


Firewatch

by Avalon1632



Category: Firewatch (Video Game), Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2018-07-28 07:03:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 21
Words: 64,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7630054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Avalon1632/pseuds/Avalon1632
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the US, large national parks are under the supervision of Rangers, who try to make sure the parks don't burn down. A lot of people end up there as a retreat from real life, and Chloe is one of them. She joins the service for a summer, heading to the Shoshone National Forest, where she meets Max, a neighbouring ranger and they both try to unravel the mystery of the Shoshone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Into the Woods

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, well… Howdy y’all. Long time no see. I’d love to say I was writing all that time, but I wasn’t. I got some hideous illness and basically spent about a week and a half there just alternating between crying in a corner and trying to stop throwing up. It wasn’t fun, and definitely didn’t put me in the mood to write, or read. So, I’m a little rusty. These chapters are a little shorter to help me ease back into the game and hopefully keep up the weekly schedule again. 
> 
> On that note, I’m really not sure what my plan is anymore. Before I got sick, I had a full chapter for each story, but I wasn’t happy with them and felt I didn’t do the idea justice, so I deleted pretty much all of them in a fit of pique. So, those stories are on hold for now while I work out what the fuck I’m doing with them. The current plan is to keep going with the 5 I have posted until they’re done and upload the others when I finally get a chapter I like. But, that’s pretty flexible for now, so don’t hold me to that. I might change my mind.
> 
> Well, the rustiness means I’m not really sure how good these chapters are. I’m probably being insecure and hating on my work again, but I’m pretty sure these aren’t up to my usual standard. I hope they are, but I don’t think they are. It’s a weird feeling. I’ve mostly just decided “Fuck it, I’ll let you guys decide as usual.” So, please, let me know if these are shit or not. And be honest, if I’ve fucked up, I’d like to fix it. Constructive Criticism is the only way to know what to focus on for improvement, right? 
> 
> So, this was something I came up with after watching Jacksepticeye’s playthrough of Firewatch. It’s a pretty good game, actually. A little iffy here and there in regards to the story, but the characters are phenomenal. Basically, in America, the huge national forests have rangers and whatnot to take care of them and make sure they don’t burn down. In game, Henry (The Protagonist) becomes a Firewatcher to get away from his life for a while. I liked the idea of Chloe doing the same thing, and thus this story was born. Hopefully you like it. I’m not 100% on the (Past) (Present) things, but I couldn’t think of another way to make it clearer which was a flashback and which was present day. Let me know if any of you have any ideas on that. 
> 
> Anyways, thanks, fan-fic-folks, and, as always, please review.

(Past)

You see Rachel.

She’s your age, late teens. Laughing and smoking with a bunch of those Vortex Club pricks. 

You, Chloe, are crashing their party.

There’s something about her. Something that draws you to her. 

You approach her.

You are high, and a little bit drunk.

She looks so cool and confident, even you feel nervous.

“So…” You grasp for a topic. “You go to Blackhell?”

You slur your words and they smell like weed and cheap beer. You give a smooth grin.

She smiles. “Yeah. I take it you don’t?”

You shrug. “I got expelled. I flunked a few classes, cracked hella good jokes that the teachers just didn’t appreciate.”

She smirks. “I’m sure it was your jokes and not your grades.”

“Was that a burn?” you ask, grinning.

She says definitely and gives you a dazzling grin of her own. 

She says she’s been dying to try the burgers at the Two Whales. She smirks again when you tell her you have an in with the chef. 

One week later, you are dating.

\-----

(Present)

I sigh. Well, time to go. I take one last look around the apartment.

I sigh again, trying not to think about all the shitty stuff that happened here.

I grab my stuff and head to the parking lot, slinging it in the back of my truck.

I get in and gun it for the highway.

\-----

(Past)

You date for months.

She drives you crazy. 

You move in together. She has enough money from modelling and you’d do anything to get away from Step-douche. You share a tiny apartment above a bar by the waterfront. You drink in that bar almost every night.

Life is good.

\-----

(Past)

Rachel wants to get a dog. 

There’s a scruffy, undersized Beagle. Rachel is in love. She wants to bring it with her to modelling sessions.

You pick up the Beagle and she names him Bucket.

Bucket’s a good dog and Rachel loves him.

You love him too.

\-----

(Present)

I slide the truck into a space and switch off the radio. 

“See you in a few months, old girl.”

Ok, gotta get my shit from the back. I hop out and walk around to the truckbed until my foot hits something soft on the floor. I look down.

Huh.

It’s a baseball cap. I pick it up. Well, shit. Cincinnati Reds. They hella suck. 

Eh. 

I put it on, grab my bag and hit the trail. 

\-----

(Past)

It’s a Thursday night and you’re cooking. Rachel is four hours late. She doesn’t call. You’re worried and getting more pissed off by the minute.

She walks in after you’ve gone to bed. 

She’s not quite drunk but she’s clearly been out somewhere. You fight when she gets between the sheets.

You get mad. 

You call her an inconsiderate asshole.

She tells you to go fuck yourself and to not be such a baby.

You call her selfish.

She knows you mean it and it hurts her feelings. 

\-----

(Past)

Even though she’s focused on modelling, Rachel also likes to draw. She draws people in the bar. She draws all the places you go. She draws you.

You dance about and pose like the badass you are.

Very nice.

\-----

(Present)

I stop, taking hella deep breaths. It’s ok, I can fucking do this. There’s just… I look over at the sign.

Shit. Eight more miles.

I take another deep breath and repeat to myself. I can fucking do this. 

Heh. Like that’s ever convinced me before. I try to hop over a log that’s fallen across the trail, but, well…

Heh. I made it in one fucking leap. Don’t ever doubt me, fuckers. 

I saunter along the trail, that one bit of swashbuckler agility somehow making me feel the same as a gallon of coffee. 

I turn the corner and suddenly stop and grin. 

Is that…?

A fucking baby deer? Like, a doe, right? Aww. Even my hardened punk heart gotta admit, that little fucker is hella cute. 

I creep forward, tryin’ to be as quiet as I can, but the deer bolts before I can get closer.

My shoulders sag. Damn. 

Eh. Whatevs. I’m gonna be in a forest for like, 3 months. Not like I’m not gonna get to see a whole bunch of deer before I… 

During the summer. Yeah. 

I tighten the straps holding my backpack to, well… my back, and head on. 

Just 8 more miles…

I can do this. 

\-----

(Past)

Rachel gets offered a modelling gig. It’s in Portland. It’s a great job: Face for a whole campaign. She wants to move.

You cannot. You just haven’t got the money. 

You ask her if she’ll commute back and forth. You don’t want to move to Portland. She says that’ll be hard, but she’ll do it if you can’t move.

You tell her not to pass it up. It’s her dream, right?

She agrees. She drives back and forth a few times a month.

\-----

(Past)

Rachel is sent home after assaulting a photographer. She claimed he was hitting on her, blackmailing her for good shots. 

The photographer claims she just snapped. He has an excellent reputation.

Other people came forward to say she’d been unusually aggressive to everyone all morning.

She was found crying in her car.

\-----

(Present)

Jeez, what idiot designed tents to be this fucking complicated? It’s not like I’m building a fucking house. 

I stop, mid-way through threading some doodad through a thingy. Well, I kinda am. Just, y’know, a small temporary house. 

I push things and thread things and try very hard not to get pissed off and snap things into itty bitty pieces until the tent seems to stay stood up on it’s own. 

I stand back and smirk as the thing wobbles. I’m so glad I’m getting a fucking tower. No way in hell I could camp for a whole summer. 

My train of thought is derailed and fucking exploded into the side of a mountain by a rumble from my stomach.

Fuck, how did I forget about noms? Being away from the Diner is definitely getting to me. 

I hop over to my little porta-grill thingy and start it up.

Crap, I need to do something to keep my mind off my fucking food. 

I pull Rachel’s diary outta my pack and flick it open to a random page, sitting down to read. 

\-----

(Past)

Even after she arrives home, you and Rachel barely see each other. 

She leaves before you do and gets back after you do.

Two weeks of this later, she goes back to Portland.

Rachel is more aggressive and paranoid with each passing day. 

She’s late and hungover to every session. Rumours start about her ‘late-night companionship’. 

The journeys home get more infrequent each week. The calls home even more so. 

\-----

(Past)

One morning, you’re woken by a call from a doctor. 

Rachel is in hospital. She overdosed on something. 

The campaign fired her. She’s being sent home. 

She is devastated.

\-----

(Past)

Rachel is back in Arcadia Bay permanently now.

It is impossibly hard.

She tries to hide it, but she comes home high more often than she comes home sober. 

Most nights, she doesn’t come home at all.

When she does, you fight and end up sleeping separately. 

\-----

(Past)

Rachel comes home late again. She’s excited, almost manic.

She tells you she’s got another shoot, a famous photographer who wants to work with her.

She won’t tell you anything more. 

You argue, telling her not to go. Rachel says she’s going anyway.

You go to bed angry.

\-----

(Past)

Rachel is always chattering about her shoots. Never specifics, just endless babble about how amazing the mystery photographer is.

A few weeks go by.

One morning, she stops talking about her shoots.

You don’t talk either.

\-----

(Past)

The apartment is empty. Rachel isn’t there. It’s too quiet for you.

You go to a bar. It’s loud there.

You flirt with the bartender, Taylor, for free drinks.

When she smiles and announces last call, you ask her to call you a cab.

When you finally get home, Rachel still isn’t there.

\-----

(Past)

Rachel is never there when you’re home from work, so you keep heading out to that bar. 

She’s never there when you get back either.

When the barely seeing each other goes to not seeing each other at all, you start to feel worried.

You haven’t seen Rachel in two days.

You report her missing to the cops.

\-----

(Past)

The cops investigate, but find nothing.

Rachel is officially declared missing.

They find pictures of her with Frank, your dealer. She was cheating. 

They can’t find any trace of her mystery photographer. They suggest she was sneaking out to see Frank and lied to you about the shoots.

You head out to that bar again. Drink yourself into a stupor. 

On the way back, your truck is stopped at a DUI checkpoint.

You blow a .10 and are taken to jail for the night.

\-----

(Past)

Rachel’s parents drive in from Long Beach. They blame you for her disappearance.

You don’t argue. You don’t say much of anything.

Rachel is gone. 

She was fucking your dealer.

The photographer is in the wind.

Summer is coming and you see an ad in the paper for a job.

You take it.

\-----

(Present)

I stop at the bottom of the hill and nearly fucking keel over. 

“Who…”

I put my hands on my knees and gasp for air till I’m practically a right angle. I’m kinda giving all the bears and hikers and whatever other shit is in the forest a hella fantastic view of my ass, but whatever, I don’t give a shit anymore. I just need to catch my fucking breath.

“The Fuck…”

My sides hurt. The rest of me kinda does too. Aaarghlfargleblurb. I think I’m gonna die right here.

“Puts This Shit…”

Yup. Right here. This is it. 

“That fucking far away…”

How am I not dead? Like, seriously, I was so not built to walk that fucking far.

“From everything else?!”

I just sit there for a few minutes, trying to catch any fucking breath I can. 

A lot quicker than I’m good with admitting, when I can finally breathe properly, I start up the hill to my tower. I feel like such a badass saying that. My Tower. Like my Fortress of Solitude. 

I look about. Actually, that’s a hella accurate description. Kinda what I wanted from this job, anyways. Just to get away from everything and everyone. 

I work my way up the stairs to the little room at the top. Fuck it’s dark. 

That’s ‘cause you gotta turn on the power, dumbass.

I flail about for a bit ‘til I find a switch. I flick it and wait a sec for everything to power up.

The minute my light switches on, I hear a voice.

“Um, Hey? Two Forks? Are you there?”

I frown. Shit, maybe I’m finally going crazy. Am I hearing things?

I hear the voice again. “Hello?”

That’s when I see the walkie talkie sat on the desk. I sigh in relief. Thank fuck for that. I don’t need more voices in my head, thanks.

I wander over and pick it up. “Hey. Uh, whoever this is.”

The voice crackles out again. It’s a chick! She sounds amused. “It’s Chloe, right?”

Ok… so, she knows my name. Weird. “Uh, yeah.”

“Hi Neighbour. I’m Max. I’m your… your boss, I guess. I’m over in the Thorofare Lookout.”

I nod. Then I stop, ‘cause it’s not like she can see me or anything, so it’s kinda weird to do.

There’s a pause where neither of us speak and then… “So, what’s wrong with you?”

Wait, what? What the fuck is wrong with this girl? Who asks that as, like, their opening line for fuck’s sake?

I do my best fish impersonation while I try to work out how the hell to respond to that before I decide on the basic pissed-off “Uh, what, dude?” hoping she’ll take the hint and shut the hell up.

Well, she’s dense as fuck. She keeps going. “People take this job to get away from stuff. So, what’s wrong?”

I can feel myself getting defensive. It’s a bad fucking habit of mine, but it’s there. Besides, who the fuck is that nosy? It’s her fault, really. Right? 

I bitch back. “What’s wrong with you?” 

She doesn’t sound pissed, she just sounds… pleased. “Wowzers, that’s an awesome idea! Go ahead.”

I sigh and rub the back of my neck. I really don’t wanna deal with this shit. I mean, Wowzers? Who still says that? “Look, Max. I just hiked for two fucking days, so I don’t have a clue what you’re trying to do right now. 

I can hear the grin in her voice. Its like, midnight, how is this girl so fucking enthusiastic? “You take a stab at what’s wrong with me.”

I roll my eyes. Fuck, this bitch is not gonna let this go, is she? Fuck it. “Fine. Then can I sleep? Like, forever?”

She laughs. “Sure. Go ahead! Wow me, Chloe.”

I roll my eyes and think for a sec. “Ok, um. You’ve killed, like, three ex-husbands. You’re a Black Widow. You’re just out here ‘til the heat dies down and then you can go and kill again.”

“Nice guess, Sherlock.”

I roll my eyes, feeling exhaustion startin’ to kick in. “Ok. I sleep now?”

“Nope! Now I gotta do you.”

Normally, I’d make a hella awesome joke about that, but I seriously need to sleep! I’m kinda amazed I’m still standing up. Keeping the Price Wit going takes full power and right now, we cannae give her any more, cap’n! 

“Let’s see…”

She pauses. “I don’t know anything about you, but nine times out of ten, the peeps who come out here simply got dumped.”

I snort. “Is that it?”

I can hear that grin again. “Close?”

I practically growl down the walkie. “G’night.”

She laughs. “Night, Chloe. Welcome to the Job.”


	2. Fireworks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN:  
> Heya fan-fic-folks. 
> 
> I’m really happy with this chapter, actually. I think I got a nice balance in the dynamic between Max and Chloe. I know I’ve been sticking strictly to the game plot for now, but bear with me. You’ll notice my little changes soon enough. Hell, I’ve dropped a couple of clues in this chapter and the first as to where I’m heading, so if you get those, well done. 
> 
> I'm still mildly astonished at how much of a perv Chloe comes off as in this chapter though. I know she's a teenager with a healthy libido and I meant her to just sound like her being all risque and excitable, but it might come off as a tad more perverted than I meant it to. Unpermitted Voyeurism is not ok, folks.
> 
> Also, some more recent news. Geek and Sundry recently started a little fantasy writing competition over on Inkshares. For those of you who don’t know, Geek and Sundry is the company Felicia Day spends her time producing internet videos for. They also make Critical Role, which is frankly the greatest boardgame RPG thing I’ve ever seen online, and I’m including Old Man Henderson in that. Matt Mercer is a fucking God. Anyways, I’m planning on entering a couple of stories into it, so there won’t be an update next saturday because I’ll be devoting my week to writing a couple of sample chapters for them. I’ll be back the week after though. Hell, if I get my sample chapters done quickly enough, I might even get some up this saturday, but that’s unlikely. 
> 
> If you want to submit a story of your own, the link is here.  
> https://www.inkshares.com/contests/geek-and-sundry-fantasy-contest 
> 
> And on a final note, I’m still trying to work back up to writing larger chapters. This one is a little longer than the stuff in last weeks update, so hopefully I’ll be writing 25K+ words a week like I’m aiming for. (That’s average 5K per chapter for each individual story, not a chapter that long for each of them, if anyone was wondering.) I’m actually enjoying writing all 5 of the stories I’ve got going now, so I’m thinking I’m going to finish each one, then pick some more from the list when I’m done. 
> 
> I know it seems like I’m taking a lot of stuff on, and honestly I am. I’m up for 20 hours a day and my A-Level results day is in like, 2 weeks, so I’m basically just desperately trying to keep my mind off that for 140 hours a week, hence the workload. Also, it’s just fun. :D
> 
> Thanks for reading, fan-fic-folks and, as always, please review.

“Morning Chloe! Well, technically good afternoon, really. You slept for hours. But, there’s still a little time to get some work in...” She trails off. Probably trying to sound teasing, I think.

“I can see you wandering around, y’know, so call me soon, lazybones.”

I roll my eyes. Fuck, this girl is pushy. I pick up the radio. “Yeah, yeah. I just walked like, twenty miles, cut me some slack.”

She snorts down the radio. “Like I said, Lazybones. It only takes me two hours to get here, nevermind two days.”

“Two hours? No fucking way, dude. You’d have to be the fucking Flash or something.”

She sounds smug. “More like senior enough to hitch a lift with the choppers.”

My jaw dropped. “You get a fucking chopper? I had to walk twenty fucking miles!”

She laughs. “Perks of being a ‘senior lookout’, I’m afraid. Do this for a few more years and maybe you’ll get to hitch too.”

There’s a crackle over the radio. “Anyway. Let’s get to work. Do you see the big round thing in the middle of your room?”

I glance over my shoulder. There is a big round thing in the middle of my room with a map on it. Kinda hard to miss. I flick on the radio, trying to sound as hella sarcastic as I can. “Yeah, I see it.”

“Good. That thingy is the Osborne Fire-Finder invented in 1914 by WB… What the fuck?”

“WB Whatthefuck? Is that French or something?” I grin, hoping for a laugh for my hella awesome jokes.

She doesn’t laugh. “No, it’s… Oh, fuck me!”

Fucking hell, this girl has quite the mouth. I realise it’s hella ironic for me to say that, but what the hell, right? “What?”

“Are those fireworks? To your west?”

I peer out the window at them. Shit, looks like they are. Whoevers firing them up must have a hella lot of them. They’re all different colours, too. Pretty impressive. “Yup. Those are hella awesome.”

I pause. We’re in a forest... I’m a fire lookout… Shouldn’t we be doing something about that? “Wait. Isn’t that shit illegal?”

Max snorts down the radio. “Uh, yeah.” She sighs. “Um. Could you, y’know, go down there? That shit is so not safe. And ironically, there’s no ranger in… uh… range.”

Guess I’d better start earning my pay, right? I nod, even though she can’t fucking see me. “Sure thing, Boss.”

I wander over to the door, grab my big-ass backpack and the random survivalist crap they seemed to think was necessary. There was a big-ass knife and a big-ass pistol to go with my big-ass backpack and the whole collection of other shit I had to carry around. I felt like fucking Batman with the utility belt. I grabbed it all and hurried down the shitty wooden stairs going around my…

Ow. Fucking plank fucking right fucking there fucking over the fucking stairs! I rub at my face where I’m pretty sure I’m gonna have a hella bruise tomorrow and keep going. Chloe Price, Woman of Steel!

\-----

As I head away from my Tower of Solitude, a thought pops into my head. I flick on the radio. “So, what can I actually do? Do I like, write them a ticket? Or do I have ‘official permission’ to kick the shit outta them?”

Max’s response is immediate. “Oh, no. Definitely don’t do that. Just confiscate the fireworks and make sure they stop. I mean, dog, we’re lucky they haven’t set anything on fire yet.”

...dog? This girl is fucking adorable. “Right, ok. I can do that.”

The radio buzzes again. “Oh, and you’ll need a rope to get down some shale on your way there. There should be some in the dropbox.”

I tap on. “Dropbox? Like, for supplies and shit?”

“Yup. We’ve got them all over the Shoshone. Saves us all the back and forth from the trailhead.”

“Huh. Convenient.”

I reach the dropbox and immediately notice a problem. “Hey Max?”

“Yes, Chloe?”

“There’s a lock on this thing. How do I get in it?”

She clicks her fingers, like a eureka moment. “Oh, shoot. Yep, one sec.” I hear the sound of shuffling papers. “The passcode is 1-2-3-4. It’s actually that for all of them.”

Seriously? I roll my eyes. “Secure.”

“Shut up.”

I snort. I open the box and pull out the rope. “Got the rope. Now what?”

“Now, you go find those girls. Gotta climb down that shale cliff, remember?”

\-----

I peer down the cliff and immediately fucking regret it. “Uh, Max? This thing is hella steep, how the hell do you expect me to climb down it?”

“I don’t remember it being that steep. I mean, it’s not even named on our topos.”

I grimace as I try not to look down. “I got a name for it. How about ‘Myshittybossisgoingtogetmekilledhill’?”

I can fucking hear Max smirking on the other end of the radio as she drawls back, voice all sarcasm. “Oh, is that Absaroka Indian? Creek, maybe?”

I roll my eyes. Wiseass. “No, it’s actually English for ‘none of this shit is in my fucking job description.’”

She snorts. “Would you just do it? If the forest burns down on your first day, it’s not exactly going to make for a good impression.”

I groan. Oh fuck, this job is going to kill me. I attach the rope to the little clippy thing and throw the other end off the cliff, trying really fucking desperately not to look down. I must’ve started chanting to myself because Max chips in. “Yep. That’d probably help. Looking down is bad. It’ll make you think of falling and how high up you are and…”

I snap. “Not fucking helping, Max!”

A pause. “Yeah, sorry. Go on, don’t let me stop you.”

I sigh. I am not getting paid enough for this shit. I plant two feet on the side and go for it. 

Easy does it… Easy does… AAAARGH!

“Fucking nooooooo!” I scream out as I fall. Shit, this is it, I’m gonna die.

I hit the ground with a crack and pain absolutely fucking everywhere. But I’m alive. Oh thank fuck, I’m alive! I’m alive! I feel like that Dodo from those old soda adverts! I’m alive!

I pick up my radio and call Max. “Ow…”

“What’s wrong?”

I almost smile, but I resist, keeping the pissed off tone. “My shitty boss almost got me killed.”

“First, your boss is a frakking delight, second, wowzers, are you ok?”

I dust myself off and stand up, making sure nothing is broken or bruised or battered or anything else beginning with b. “Yeah, I think so. The fucking rope snapped!”

“You didn’t break anything, did you?”

Aww, she sounds concerned. I’m half tempted to fake some hella awful injury, but I decide to take pity on her. She’s pretty much the only person I’ve got to talk to, so no sense pissing her off on my first day. “Other than the rope and my pride, no.”

“Well, at least we know the name is good.”

I laugh at that. Probably in bad fucking taste, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.

“So, were there really indians around here?”

“Yeah. It’s kinda strange, actually. The entire tribe just… disappeared one day. There were some scientists out here a while back studying them and they couldn’t find any reason why.”

She pauses. “Just another mystery of the Shoshone, I guess. Which was the name of the tribe, actually.”

Huh. That’s kinda cool. I love a good mystery.

\-----

I wander into this big-ass meadow and look over towards the lake. Wow… This place is pretty as fuck. And I’m nearly there! Awesome!

I step on something with a metallic crunch. I look down. “Hey. Turns out these idiots have terrible fucking taste in beer.”

Max laughs. “Oh? They left a sixpack of Labatt open?”

“Nope. Red Eagle cans all over the meadow.”

She snorts, derisively. “Really? People have no respect. Um, could you clean those up, please?  
I snort at that. “Seriously? Is that really my job?”

“Yep. Your job is whatever I say is, my slave.” She cackles. “But no, seriously. Could you? We don’t want some poor animal getting hurt by them.”

I roll my eyes, but something in her tone makes me groan and do it anyway. I never could resist a damsel in distress. 

With a couple minutes of effort, I had all the cans dumped in my backpack. I can stick ‘em somewhere safe later.

I wander into the middle of the camp and wander over to a pile of stuff these idiots just left out. “Found the fireworks. They just kinda left ‘em on the side. What do I do with them?”

“Just confiscate them, please. We can’t have them firing off any more.”

I stuck them in my big-ass backpack and turned to the rest of the camp, grinning when I saw what was just lying there on a rock. “Ooooh, they’ve got a bottle of whisky here. Hella good stuff, too.”

Max snorts. “Great. Drunk pyromaniacs. That always turns out well.”

I look down at the bottle. Hmm. I can confiscate this as well, right? Don’t want them climbing around drunk, right? It’s practically a public service. I take a swig from the bottle and put the rest in my backpack.

I look over towards the big rock their camp is under and grin. “Hey, Max. I found their packs.”

“Please, don’t touch them, Chloe. We really don’t need some hikers telling the bosses you harassed them.”

I stamp my foot and plead into the radio. “Aww, please?”

Her answer is stern. “No, Chloe.”

“Not even a little bit? I could just…”

“No.”

I roll my eyes. “Fine… I’ll leave them alone. Gotta go find them by the lake, right?”

“Yep. Get goin’, watchwoman Price.”

Ok, off to find...

Well, shit… “Um, Max?”

“Yes, Chloe?”

“They kinda left their clothes out to dry…” 

She sounds puzzled. “So…? That’s not against the rules, you know.”

“Yeah, but… I just thought, like… what if they’re naked?”

I’m not sure if I sound nervous or excited. Max’s answering laugh says it’s probably excited. Damn, she probably thinks I’m a fucking perv now... “Won’t that be fun for you…”

The radio crackles. “You’ve still gotta go tell them to stop. No more fireworks.”

I sigh. “Fine…”

These clothes look hella expensive. Pretty sure they’re designer or some shit. 

I wander away from the camp towards the lake, until I see something hanging from a tree over the path. “Hey, Maxie, you were right. They’ve left their underwear fucking everywhere.”

I keep walking as she laughs. “A nudie pyromaniac. Try to keep it professional, Chloe.”

When I run into two more sets of matching underwear, I call Max back. “Um, Max…?”

“Yes…?”

“There’s, uh… three naked girls…”

She laughs. “Is that going to be a problem, Chloe?”

I sound kinda intimidated now. At least I don’t sound like an excited perv anymore. “Hey, I like naked girls just as much as anyone, but theres…”

She sounds like she’s desperately trying not to laugh… Damn it. “Three…?”

“Yeah!” I exclaim, indignantly. 

She pauses for a second. “I can’t even tell you what I’m thinking right now. Just… try to do your job, Chloe.”

I grumble and keep going. Ok, I got them. Three naked girls skinny-dipping in Jonesy Lake. Damn. If I wasn’t here to yell at them, I’d hella enjoy this. Even if it is kinda intimidating to have three at the same time. Eyes up top, Chloe. 

I click the radio to talk to report to Max again. “Found ‘em. They’re in the lake.”

One of the girls shouts. “Jesus, Is that someone over there?”

Max laughs. “Oh boy… Good luck.”

Great. What a fucking help she is. I head over to the lake and shout over to them. “Hey, fuckwits. I know you’ve been shooting off all over here!”

Ok… Innuendo hella unintended...

“Just, cut it out with the fucking fireworks ok?”

One of them shouts back at me. I see a short tuft of blonde hair. “Have you been watching us?! Ew! Pervert!”

I roll my eyes as the others hop on the fucking bandwagon, all shouting about how I’m a ‘deviant’ and other shit like that. Hey, I’m not the one swimming naked in a fucking still lake in the middle of the woods. Don’t they know that’s how you get infections?

“Hey, just fuck off, alright? We came out here to get away from creeps like you!”

I growled. Right, that’s it. 

Fucking. 

Assholes. 

“I took all of your shit, y’know! The fireworks, the fucking whiskey, all of it!”

Now that got their attention. “What? You bitch!”

Like any of them can talk. Fuck, she even sounds like a bitch. Probably one of those High School Queen Bee assholes. But great, I got their attention, now for the lecture. Fuck, if only Step-douche could see me now…

“You need to stop with the fucking fireworks, dumbasses. Setting them off out here isn’t just stupid, it’s fucking illegal!”

You used Lecture. It’s super effective! 

“Yeah, well so is STEALING, bitch!”

Or not…

“You’re gonna pay for that, bitch!”

One of the others made a disgusted sound. “Can we just go?”

“Yeah. Let’s leave this bitch to her fucking stealing.”

I roll my eyes as they swim away and turn to leave. 

As I head back to the tower, my radio buzzes. 

“So, how’d it go…?”

I growl. “I hope they fucking drown.”

Max laughs. “Yeow.”

I shrug. Kinda pointlessly, really. She can’t see me. “Meh. Don’t think anyone would mourn those bitches.”

“Um, ok… Yep. Definitely not logging that as a threat.”

I snort. “Thanks.”

“Seriously though, thanks for dealing with it. I know it wasn’t what you expected when you came out here, so thanks.”

I shrug, still not getting the whole no-visibility thing. “No problem. It was kinda fun to yell at them.”

She laughs. “Well, out here, you need all the fun you can get. I’m partial to sudoku. And…”

She sounds kinda nervous. What, is she an exhibitionist or something? I roll my eyes. Why do I always go sexual? Fuck, Chloe. Keep it clean. I try be jokey, maybe get her to open up a bit. “Was I right with the murdering thing? I bet you do so enjoy the murdering.”

She snorts. “Not quite. It’s… photography.”

Huh. Ok. That… wasn’t what I expected. The way she was talking, I was expecting something a bit more… I dunno, deviant?

“Cool. So, you like, take photos of nature and stuff…?”

I realise how stupid the question is the moment I say it. 

“Um, well, there’s not exactly much else to take pictures of, out here.” She says, dryly.

“Sounds cool. You’ll have to let me see some, when we get out of here.”

I almost think she sounds relieved that I don’t poke into it anymore. I’m probably wrong though, I’m hella shitty at the mushy stuff. “It’s a deal. Now, if you want to get back, you’ll have to go through Thunder Canyon.”

“Thunder Canyon?”

“Yes, I know. I didn’t name it.”

I smirk as I wander along the rocks. “Yeah, it doesn’t have quite the same ring as ‘Myshittybossisgoingtogetmekilledhill’, does it?”

She laughs.

Maybe this job isn’t going to be so bad after all...


	3. The Cave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya Fan-fic-folks!
> 
> Long time no see. You’ll be delighted to know I spent the last two weeks ever so productively and am pretty close to actually uploading my inkshares stories. If you’re interested, here’s a brief summary of the two stories I’m currently working on. 
> 
> Much Ado about Everything:  
> The story of Etienne Olivier, renowned actor and utter asshole. When his troupe finally gets tired of his dickish behaviour, they fire him and blacklist him in the industry. He loses everything, ending up on the street. He turns to con artistry to eat and turns out to be good at it, but he’s always looking for a way back to the stage. One day, he sees a group of people in the marketplace, talking to a crowd about honour and justice and freedom from tyranny and, being the cynical prick he is, immediately concludes it can’t be genuine and that they must be actors. He tries to butt in with a pretty stirring speech mostly stolen from various plays he’s written or acted in over the years. Turns out, the ‘actors’ were actually rebels trying to incite the crowd against a tyrannical empire that conquered the city and his little speech turns the tide. He gets caught up in the fight and basically blunders and bluffs his way into being viewed as the hero of the conflict. When they win, the rebels induct him into their leadership. The rest of the story is just him trying to keep the act going, because if they find out, the rebels will kill him and if he leaves, the Empire will kill him. So, what’s an actor turned rebel leader to do? 
> 
> Guardians of Dreamworld:  
> When you enter the Land of Dreams, all that you believe is real, becomes real. Nightmares are creatures that take the form of the Dreamer’s fears in order to feed on them. The Guardians are an ancient order that exist to protect Dreamers from the Nightmares. For a thousand years, there have been no sightings, until Arda comes along. Arda is the great grand-daughter of a legendary Guardian hero and she’s the newest initiate. When she is sent into the Dreamworld on her Rite of Bonding to find her first youngling, she finds it being attacked by a nightmare. Through sheer luck, she fends it off and completes the Rite. When she returns, nobody believes her. After all, everyone knows they’ve been gone for centuries. So, she decides to find proof. The rest of the story is her unravelling the existence of the nightmares and what brought them back. 
> 
> So, if you like the sound of either story, both links will appear in my profile and in whichever update on here occurs after I post them to inkshares. I know links on here are iffy, but I think I finally have a method that will work. 
> 
> Oh, on another bright note, after a year of repeating my A-Levels, I finally made it into uni for a BSc in Psychology! That’s most of the reason this update is so late. Thursday was mostly spent working out all sorts of Uni stuff, so this kinda fell behind. I’m still putting some finishing touches on The Blackwell Job, so that will be uploaded later tomorrow (Sunday the 21st).
> 
> Not sure if I’m happy with this chapter or not. The dialogue didn’t quite flow as well as the last two, in my opinion. I’m probably being over-critical again, but let me know what y’all think.
> 
> So thanks for reading fan-fic-folks and, as always, please review.

I stopped to check out the lay of the land, trying to work out where to go next. “So, this is Thunder Canyon, huh?”

“Yep. You need to head all the way along it. Let me know when you’re there.”

“Aye aye, Cap’n.” I throw up a salute.

She snorts. “Move it, matey. It’ll be night soon. You don’t want to be climbing out here in the dark.”

I replace the radio in my little holster thingy and starting jogging through the canyon. Up a ledge, over a tree, running past the river…

Fuck, this canyon is hella long. Either that or I’m hella out of shape. Gonna have to work on…

Holy shit! I trip on some rocky outcropping and fall flat on my face. “Oww…”

I get to my feet, dust myself off and listen again. The loudest fucking rumble I’ve ever heard echoes down the canyon behind me. Guess the name makes hella sense after all. Cool. “Max, I’m kinda hearing thunder out here.”

“Yep. There’s a big storm to the north. Hoping it doesn’t strike here, or we’re going to be busy. Now, hurry back. You don’t want to get hit by lightning, do you?”

I shrug. “Eh. I got hit by lightning when I was 9, so I’m gonna be fine. Doesn’t strike twice, right?”

She snorts. “There was a guy, a couple lookouts before you, who got hit by lightning seven times.”

I stop. Poor fucker… “Ouch.”

“Yeah. If it makes you feel any better, it wasn’t what killed him.”

“What killed him?”

“Bears, we think. We never found him. Just a whole bunch of scrapes on the stairs up to your lookout. Weird, huh?”

I’d facepalm, if I didn’t need them to hold the radio and climb. Max, that’s not even slightly reassuring! 

“Yeah, that’s hella weird. Besides, I’m not sure I really get any choice in whether I get hit or not.”

“Kinda inevitable with your electric personality.”

Ouch. She actually sounds proud of that. “Wow…”

“I guess my jokes just don’t spark your sense of humour.”

She laughs at my silence. “Not enjoying our current conversation?”

I groan. “Fucking hell…”

“The… the arc of our budding friendship?”

Heh. She’s definitely struggling now. I guess I could try one. Building bridges, right?

I sigh, hella melodramatically. “How exactly did you get to be… in charge?”

She laughs. “Nice one, Chlo.”

I roll my eyes and reholster my radio. 

It crackles again a few minutes later, while I’m hopping over a fallen tree lying across the tiny river flowing down the canyon. “So… I kind of have a confession to make.”

I frown. Maybe I was right about the murdering thing after all. “Yeah?”

“I…” She sighs. “I was kind of drunk last night, when I welcomed you to the job.” 

She sounds sheepish. “Hence the whole interrogating you about why you’re out here thing. I just wanted to say sorry and it won’t happen again.”

Thank fuck for that. “You’re not my first drunk boss, Max. It’s fine. Thanks.”

…There’s a couple seconds of silence and then...

“So… you there yet?”

I look up at my tower in the distance. “Almost. I can see my tower from here.”

“Yeah, we experimented with hidden underground towers for a while, but they didn’t really catch on.”

Smartass. “So, we’re together all summer, huh? Stuck with this ‘hella awesome’ sense of humour?” I mutter, dryly.

“Yep. You’re going to looove it!” She singsongs. 

I laugh and reholster my radio, setting off down the canyon again. 

About a minute later, I spot the familiar bee yellow of the Dropbox and the end of the canyon. There was a cave to the right and a big hill road going off to my left. I opened up the dropbox, updated my map and pulled the flashlight out. “Hey boss. Hit the end of the canyon. What’s in the cave?”

“Rocks, mostly.”

Ok, so she likes the hella awful jokes. Good to know. “Maaaax?”

She snorts. “Your way home, dumbass. Just go right on through. Did you get the flashlight from the dropbox?”

I grin, tossing the thing in the air and catching it like a badass. “Yeah. It’s mine now.” 

“Great. Head on through. There’s a way out on the other side.”

I headed into the cave, grinning when I heard my steps echo. This is gonna be fun. I howled like a wolf into the cave, laughing at the echo. 

I hella love this shit. Used to go caving with my Dad sometimes and we’d spend ages playing with the echoes like this. So fucking cool.

“Fifteen kids in the backyard drinking wiiiiine!”

Heh. So fucking cool. I kept on through the cave, looking for some light when I ran into a grate. Number 452. There was a weird symbol on the sign next to it, looked like a long skull with antlers. That thing would make a hella awesome tattoo. “Um, Max?”

“Yes?”

“There’s a grate in here.”

“Yep. The service likes to make sure people don’t just wander in and die, so they gated it off. They’re supposed to get the keys from the trailhead office, but they got lost, like, 3 years ago.”

“Damn. That’s hella sucky.”

She laughs. “Oh? Did you want to climb about in there?”

“Hella yeah! My dad and I used to go all the time.”

“Aww. Cute. Well, don’t worry, Chlo. I’m sure there’ll be another cave for you to get your caving kicks in.”

Eh. She’s right. I’ll find another cave, a better cave! I turn and glare at the sign. You and your weird-ass tattoo graffiti will just have to do without me in yo… 

Ok, kinda glad I didn’t say that out loud.

I climb up out of the cave and get on with it. I glare off up the hill. Oh great, another ledge to climb up. Fucking hell, there are a lot of these around here. Why didn’t I volunteer somewhere with less mountains?

But, I gotta get back to the Tower of Solitude or I’m gonna freeze to death. Hup! I pull myself up the ledge and break out in a run.

“Gah!”

I flail back as I run into the fucking blinding torchlight glaring down at me from somewhere up the hill. What kind of asshole does that? I squint through it, flicking on my radio. 

I hiss into it. “Max, there’s some guy watching me.”

“Seriously? Is he doing anything else?”

I frown. “No, just watching… Why?”

She sighs. “There’s something people should’ve told you about this place…”

Something they should’ve told me? What is it? We’re in the fucking middle of nowhere, how bad could it be? “What?”

“It’s… outside. The whole thing. And people just come and go as they please… it’s madness!”

I roll my eyes. Still a smartass. “Yeah, yeah, Max. I get it.”

She snorted. “It’s a public park, Chloe. You’re going to run into a few new people now and again.”

I grumble and stow my radio away. She’s probably right. Whoever the fuck it was is still a dick though.

A few minutes later, I stumble up the slope to my tower. Just as I’m about to head up the stairs, my foot clanks into something...

I look down. What the hell? It was a picture of me and Rachel by the lighthouse back in Arcadia Bay. I kept it on my desk. How the fuck did it get down here?

I radio the boss. “Uh, Max?”

“What can I do ya for, Chlo?” She singsongs. 

“Uh, some of my shit is outside the tower.”

She sounds confused. “What?”

“Outside. Some of my shit is outside and I didn’t put it there.”

She pauses. It’s hella fucking ominous. “You should go upstairs. Now.”

Damn right I should. I raced upstairs, picture in hand, bending down to avoid the wood panel over the stairs. 

I slowed to a stop when I got to the top. Shit. I radioed Max.

“One of my windows is smashed! They fucked the whole place up!”

I wandered inside, trying to see what else they’d fucking messed with. 

“Seriously? Frak. I’ll let the forest service know what happened.”

Who the fuck did this? I’m pretty much ranting and raving randomly around the room now. When I finally realise that, I take a deep breath and try to calm the fuck down. Then I see the bed. “Wow. Well, my sheets are gone.”

“They took your sheets? Wowzers, that’s just mean.”

Weirdly, that seems to be the thing that pisses her off the most. Guess she was the kid who always made her bed in the morning. “I know, right? They could’ve at least left the fucking pillow.”

“I’ve let the service know. They’ll be replacing everything in the next drop.”

I sigh. “Thanks, Max.”

“Sure. Happy to help. I need you to feel safe out here, Chloe.”

“As long as I have hella bullets for the gun, I will.”

She sighs. “I hope you won’t have to use them. Who could’ve done this?”

I think for a sec. Then it hits me. “Our asshole pyromaniacs. They probably got pissed off when I stuck my fuzzy bunny slipper of authority in their faces. Maybe they wanted to get back at me?”

I hear the thud of Max hitting her wall, or maybe her desk. “Frakking flippity frak. You’re right. I’ll put a call in to the rangers, let them know to keep an eye out for three teens.”

I sigh again. “Thanks, Max.”

“Sure. Like I said, I need you to feel safe.”

I smile. Maybe my boss isn’t so shitty after all. And her cursing is hella adorable.


	4. Communications Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya fan-fic folks!
> 
> Ok, so’s y’all know, there won’t be another update for this, Firewatch or The Island until the seventeenth. I volunteer with a local mental health charity and we’ve got a pretty busy week next week, so I won’t have the time to get my full load done. There’s a few other things as well, but that’s the main time drag. Sorry for another delay, y’all, but life just gets hectic, y’know? Especially this close to Uni season. I’m working on a solution, so hopefully this will be the last time.
> 
> Secondly, a comment on The Blackwell Job put an idea in my head. I have a series of story summaries on my profile. They’re basically just a list of ideas I have for stories to write in the future. Once this current crop is done, I’m going to start the next bunch of three. Five/Four turned out to be too many to keep going each week, so I’m cutting it down to three. I have one picked out already (Not in the list), I just need the other two. So, I’d like to see which two you guys would like me to work on first. So, if you’ve got an opinion, feel free to stick it in a review. Whichever 2 stories get the most votes will be the ones I start after these are done. 
> 
> Ok, now that’s done, onto this chapter. I wrote for ages on this one and expected it to be like, 8,000 words. After I was done editing, it definitely wasn’t. I quite like it though. I think my Max is a nice balance between the in-game one and Delilah. Just shy enough to be Max and just misanthropic enough to be Delilah. :) Another couple of clues as to where I’m going with the story in this chapter. Kudos if you can spot ‘em. 
> 
> Thanks for reading fan-fic-folks and, as always, please review.

“Chloe? Come in, Chloe!”

I groaned. Seriously? It’s not even 6 yet!

I ambled over and picked up the radio. ““It’s 4am. How are you awake at 4am?”

Max laughed. “Not a morning person, huh? And I’m up with the sunrise. I’m surprised you can sleep through it though.”

I shrugged, slumping down into my desk chair. “Pillow. I just put it over my head. Be hella easier if I had some fucking curtains though.”

“Yep. The fire service made the ‘executive decision’ that lookouts shouldn’t have curtains.”

I paused. “Theeey… may have a point. So, what’s your problem?”

Max snorted. “Our problem. You remember that storm from last night? It knocked out the phone line. We’re cut off.”

Huh. Well, that sounds bad. “Can I go fix it or something?”

“Unless you’ve got a degree in electronic engineering I don’t know about, probably not. You can go have a nose around though, see what the damage is.”

“Huh. Ok, so where am I going?”

She gave me some directions up to the north and I headed out.

\-----

“Shit, it’s cold!”

Max laughed. “Wasn’t it cold back in… where was it? Oregon?”

I hopped down into the cave. “Yeah, Arcadia Bay. It was hella cold there.”

I heard Max shift around. “What did you get up to down there? What’s life like?” She asked, curiously. 

I shrugged. “Not much. I hung around with Rachel. Went to a lot of bars.”

“Rachel, huh? Is she your..?” She trailed off. 

Damn it. I really don’t wanna talk about this. “Yeah. We were together.”

“Oh. So, are you guys taking a break or..?” She pressed. 

“No, she went missing. She… I…” I sighed. “We’ll talk about this later, Max.”

She gasped. I was pretty sure she’d slapped her hand over her mouth and everything. “Oh, god, I was doing it again, wasn’t I? After I promised not to and everything?! Wowzers, I’m a crappy person. Sorry, Chloe.”

I almost laughed. Max was hella cute when she babbled. “It’s fine. Just, forget it, ok?”

“Um. Forget what? What am I forgetting?”

I snorted. Dork. “Thanks.”

\-----

I swung around the wall and… Ew. Ruined outhouse. I frowned when I noticed a board tucked into the wall. I picked it out and grinned. 

“Hey, Max? I found an old outhouse.”

“Yep, if you’ve found that, you’re on the right track.”

“Awesomesauce. I found an old pad in there, too. Someone was writing a song. The, uh, ‘Ol’ Shoshone’.” I read through it. “It’s hella depressing, actually.” 

I read out some of the lyrics. “Wow.” Max muttered. “Sounds like his life before here was kinda crappy.”

I thought back to Arcadia Bay. Back to Rachel. “Yeah, I know the fucking feeling.” I wiped at my eyes. “So, just up the hill then, huh?”

I heard papers rustling. “Yep. Just up and to the right. Not far at all.”

I was gonna head off, but I saw a building in the distance and I’m hella nosy. There was a burnt out cabin at the edge of a cliff. I wandered over. I frowned. Huh. That’s… weird. The weird horned skull symbol from the cave was carved into the door. 

Maybe the last guy who lived here was a tattoo artist? “Hey, Max? There’s a burnt cabin out here. You know anything about it?”

“Ah. Hawk’s Rest. Yep, I know it. And we don’t know. The guy who used to live there was kinda off, even by the standards of out here.”

My eyes bulged. He must’ve been hella ‘off’ then. “Seriously?”

“Yeah. He went completely crazy. Kept seeing ‘things’. One day, he just burnt his place down and disappeared, never to be heard from again.”

I snorted. “You’re fucking with me, right?”

“Nope. True story. He just disappeared. We never worked out what happened to him.”

Wow. Shit really does happen out here. I turned and started to head back when I saw the little shell sitting out on a rock. 

“Hey, I found a turtle out here!” The little guy poked his head out of his shell. “He’s kinda cute, actually.”

“Well, you could keep him, if you wanted. Not like there’s anyone around to complain. You just gotta think up a name.”

I thought it over for a sec. “How about… Turt Reynolds?”

Max giggled. “I like it.”

I looked down at the little guy. “Yeah, you should see his moustache. They could be twins.”

She snorted with laughter. “Well, I look forward to meeting him. Oh, and tell him I loved Cannonball Run!”

I stashed the little guy in my pocket with some green shit and kept going. Turtles ate plants and stuff, right?

I sighed when the downed line came into view. Yep. It’s them. I called Max. “Hey, boss?”

She answered immediately. “What’s up, Chloe? Did you find anything?”

I looked at the panties on the ground by the line. “Yep. It’s… definitely the girls from the lake. Their… um…”

Max sighed. “What, Chloe? Did they leave something?”

“Yeah. They, um. They left a message for me.” I blurted. I took a breath. “They sound hella pissed off.”

She jumped in abruptly. “Are you serious? They fucked with the lines?” Max questioned. 

I nodded. “Yeah. It’s definitely them. Their shitty beer was all over the fucking place.”

I heard a thud. Pretty sure Max just hit something. “Fuck! Idiots! Fucking with the lines could get someone killed! What if one of you guys fell down a fucking ravine or something and I couldn’t call for help?”

She ranted and raved for a bit longer. I actually learnt a couple of new swearwords. Max certainly was… inventive. “What do you want me to do, boss?”

“Find them.”

I paused, waiting for the rest of it. “...and then what?”

“I don’t know. Well, actually, I do” she amended. “But everything I’m thinking is illegal.”

I grinned. Now we’re fucking talking! “Let’s hear it.”

“Really?” I could hear the amusement in her voice. Like a kid who just got told they could go to Disneyland. 

I shrugged. “Yeah. Hit me with your best shot.”

She paused again. “I want you to scare them. Something that’ll send their vapid little heads screaming back to mommy and daddy. Got it?”

I nodded. “Got it, boss. Any ideas where they are?”

“Nope. Well, they probably moved from the lake. Maybe take a look around the pole? They’re litterbugs, so they might’ve left a trail?”

I nodded. I still keep doing that… “Hella yeah. The assholes left their beer cans all over the path up here.”

I climbed down a steep drop, headed along a short trail and shimmied over a rock path before I found anything. More of those fucking cans. “Got something, Max. They’ve left a shitload of their cans everywhere. I’m following it.”

Max didn’t respond. I just kept going. She’d be back later. Probably off to pee or something. 

I hooked my last rope and abseiled down a cliff-face. I may have slipped a bit halfway down, but I stayed on! I’m getting better at this.

I dropped down onto the top of a long slope. There was a road off to my left and another cliff drop down to my right. Aaaand there was another pile of cans on the road. I followed it along until I hit another cliff. I searched through my pack and… shit. I’m outta ropes. “Max, I’m out of ropes.”

“Well, try find another way down. It’s not like I can get to you with extras.”

I poked around the area. I didn’t find another way down. Instead, I found a backpack hanging from an old tree. I managed to get it down and opened it up. Result! A whole fucking bunch of ropes, just hanging from a tree. Guess this guys bad luck is my good luck, right? 

I scooped out the ropes. Heh. Thank you Brian Goodwin. “I found this guy’s backpack. It’s full of ropes.”

Max laughed. “Score.”

“Hella yeah.” I stuck the ropes in my pack. “I’m gonna be able to get around hella easily from now on.”

“Awesome.” Max said, dryly. 

“Yeah. All thanks to Brian Goodwin. Wonder who he was?”

Max interrupted. “Wait, wait. Did you say Brian Goodwin?”

I frowned. “Yeah. You know him?”

“Yep, from” She sounded thoughtful for a sec. “three years back, I think.”

I grinned. “One of those husbands you murdered?”

She snorted. “No.” She took a deep breath. “He was the son of the last guy in your lookout, Ned Goodwin.”

I frowned. Huh? His son? “They let kids up here?”

I could hear the shrug in her voice. “Not really, but I’m not big on rules.”

She sighed. “Ned was… troubled, I think. He was a soldier. Got discharged when his mom died. She was looking after Brian and when she went, he didn’t have anyone else. Ned was a bit of a douchebag, really. Angry at the world, y’know.”

I frowned. Sounds like someone I know. “Yeah. I know.”

We both got silent for a minute or two as I hurried along. I didn’t say anything else until I spotted a thin tail of smoke going up into the sky. It was pretty cool looking. “Hey, I see some smoke in the distance. Can you see it?”

“Yep. I see it too. It looks like it’s up near 5 mile creek.”

I snorted. “Five Mile Creek? Who names places around here?”

“It’s a creek, and it’s five miles long.” She said, dryly. “What else would it be called?” 

I stopped. Huh. “Good point.”

I took a look at the map again. The creek was south. Ish.

\----- 

“So, what happened? With Rachel, I mean?”

I sighed. She wasn’t gonna give up on that, was she? Max is hella nosy. “I don’t know. She just went out one day and never came back. I shouldn’t be here, but I kinda just ended up here.”

“I’m sorry, Chloe. The Police didn’t find anything out?”

I shrugged. “They thought it was me. I got reporters for a while, too. Arcadia Bay is a small town and the disappearance of ‘the town darling’ was big news. Even when the police couldn’t find shit, I still got people glaring at me. I just...” I sighed. “I’m just not ready yet.”

“Well, in the meantime, you are here. And it’s beautiful. And escaping isn’t always something bad, Chloe.” Max said. 

I didn’t respond. 

I hopped down off a ledge and wandered through this bare patch of forest. Looked like there’d been a fire blowing through here. Half of the trees were black and burned. None of them had any leaves left. 

I was abseiling down another cliff-face when my radio buzzed again. “Argh. I’m trying to get someone out here to fix it, but this flapjack doesn’t wanna get off his ass!”

… I tried not to laugh as I detached from the rope. “Uh, Flapjack?”

“Yeah. Flapjack. You know… Like a loser. A dud.”

Wow. That’s hella adorable. I tried not to laugh at her. “I really didn’t. But, I guess I kinda do now.”

“Well, the next time you’re in one of those bars back in Arcadia Bay and some douchbag pushes in front of you, you’ve got just the word to use.”

I grinned. “I guess I do.”

\-----

“So, um… did Rachel’s disappearance have anything to do with you taking this job?”

“I kinda went looking for it. After Rachel… I just needed to get outta town for a while.”

“Well, you definitely came to the right place. And, y’know, we’ll try to have some fun this summer, I promise.” 

I smiled. Believe it or not, Max was kinda growing on me. She was sweet in a hella dorky, bumbling sort of way. “Thanks, Max.”

\-----

I climbed down to the area the Creek was in and found another DropBox. I opened it up and copied down the routes onto my map. I found something else in there. A missing persons flier. There was another one on the board at the trailhead. Huh…

“Max? Do a lot of people go missing here?”

She hmmed. “Kinda. Lots of them go around here, because it’s so remote.” She sounded curious. “Why?”

I shrugged. “Found a flier for a missing hiker. Got me thinking about… Well, y’know. Like you said one day you were talking to the Goodwins and the next you weren’t.”

“Sorry, Chloe. But Ned Goodwin didn’t get mauled by a bear or stuck in a ravine or anything. He was just a PTSD’d flapjack who dragged his son out here and realised it wasn’t the best idea.”

I snorted. “Grizzlies won’t kill flapjacks, huh? They don’t have a taste for douchebags?”

She laughed. “Nope. That’s why you’re totally safe, Chloe.” I laughed. Hella true. Bears would take one bite and run! I flexed for an imaginary camera. 

I grinned as I looked around the place. “Wow...”

“What?”

“I’m in this forest thing. It’s hella pretty.”

“Uh..” I guess something clicked. “Oh, you mean the aspen grove. Yep. It’s really pretty. It’s all one organism, you know?”

I wandered through the grove listening to Max. Apparently the trees all shared water. That’s why they were still here when the summer was hella dry. There was a river running through the place, too. Pretty well set-up trees. Like winning the real-estate lottery. 

I looked up through the treeline. The smoke tail was hella close now. The idiots have gotta be around here somewhere. Especially considering their love of skinny dipping.

Holy shit. The water in the river is fucking red! It was hella freaky. I wandered closer. There was a dead elk in the river. There were hella bloody gashes all over it, like something had ripped it apart. 

Aww. Poor fucker. “I found a dead elk in the river. It’s all torn up.”

“Aww. Probably a bear. They like to go after the elk sometimes.”

A bear? Looks more like a fucking xeno went after it or something. “If you say so, boss. I’m gonna head on. They’ve gotta be hella close now.”

I followed the river along to a waterfall. Pretty place. I took a glance around the area. There was an opening off to the right, so I headed in. There was a big hidden grove there! It was kinda cool, actually. Hella high cliffs around it, a bunch of trees and a little pond thing. If I was into camping, it’d be a great spot. 

I moved further into it and growled when I saw what was lying on the fucking floor! I radioed Max. “Hey, I found my sheets! These bitches!”

Max laughed. “Well, at least something good came from this. You’ll be nice and toasty. Like a Marshmallow.”

I rolled my eyes and kept poking around. The tent was right in the middle of the clearing. I crept towards it, listening for the girls. The place was hella quiet though, so I guess they were off littering the forest again. Assholes.

Or… maybe not. Shit. The tent was ripped up and their shit was everywhere. Nevermind a bear, it looked like a whole fucking… what the hell is the word for lots of bears? I got nothing. 

There was a note taped to the tent. On paper, this time. Maybe they ran out of spare underwear. 

Hi LOSER!

I hope you’re fucking HAPPY. We’re LEAVING and we’re going to the POLICE and telling them about how you DESTROYED our campsite and KIDNAPPED OUR FRIEND! When they come back here, you are SO going to JAIL!!

I hope it was worth being a BITCH over some fucking fireworks. CREEP,

Shit. “Uh, Max..?” 

She answered immediately. “Yeah? Did you find them?”

“Yeah, but… they’re gone. They think I destroyed their campsite and kidnapped their friend. They’re gonna call the police.” I looked back down at the note. 

She sighed. “Shit.”

“Yeah. Maybe one of them went missing or got eaten or something. Do you think that bear got in here?”

“Could’ve done, I guess.” She exhaled. “Well, weird stuff happens in the woods. Maybe this girl got lost after ‘tripping balls’ or whatever. I’ll let the rangers know to keep an eye out for a girl.”

“But, hey, they’re gone.” Her voice suddenly sounded more cheerful. I guess she’d found a silver lining she liked. “There’s no way for them to call the police, thanks to them and maybe now we can get to work.”

She breathed out, gently. Like a sigh of relief, I guess. “Here’s to a quiet summer.”

Yeah, that like that was gonna fucking last.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, Fan-fic-folks!
> 
> Kudos if you get the reference here. Clue - It’s an old children’s tv series running from 1973-75. It’s made with little stop-motion characters living in the Capital of the UK.
> 
> Also, another few clues dropped in as to where this story is going. Kudos if you get them. :)
> 
> So, I realise I’ve been a little absent the last couple of weeks. As an apology for being late, there’s a link in my profile I think you’ll enjoy. It only works on HTML Browsers, unfortunately, so you’ll have to use Chrome or some other such thing to use it. Safari users, sorry. 
> 
> I can’t tell you about any other browsers, but if you use it on Chrome, a file should pop up with a whole bunch of code. If you download the file, you should get a HTML file called “The Airplane Job.” You can run it in HTML Browsers.
> 
> It’s a short Text-Based game in a similar vein to Love is Strange, except based in the world of The Blackwell Job. You play Max and make your choices as you progress through the Contract. It’s just a short thing I made, nowhere near complete, but if you like it, I might continue it and make it a full story/game to run alongside The Blackwell Job. Review or PM or comment or something if you want me to do more. They’re hella easy, so it’s really no trouble at all to do.
> 
> Thanks for reading and, as always, please review.

I sigh and hammer another board onto my broken window. Damn kids. Fucking privileged assholes, always breaking shit... I roll my eyes. Great, now I sound like fucking Step-douche!

I reach down to grab another plank and... I’m outta boards. Damn it. I head downstairs. I left most of my planks down at the base of my lookout. What? They’re HEAVY.

“Hey, Chloe?” Max asks. She sounds kinda nervous.

I frown. “Yeah? Somebody set another fire?”

She snorts. “No, everything’s ok. I was just wondering… what do you look like?” I hear her chair scrape on the floor. “I look through my telescope and I just see a white girl with kinda shortish blue hair.”

I… um… what? “Why are you asking?”

She laughs as I head back up. “I’m drawing you. Something I picked up from a friend. I figure I can’t take pictures of you yet, so this will do for now.” She pauses, like she’s sounding out the next bit in her head. “Is… is that ok?”

She wants to draw me? I open and close my mouth a couple times, trying to think up something to say. What the hell, right? Maybe I’ll finally understand what the fuck Rach saw in this shit. I thought about it for a sec. “I dunno. Never really thought about it. I’m just a hella lanky white girl.”

She hmms through the radio. “Alright, well. I know your hair is blue. Do you like it up or down?”

I snort. “Down. Usually tuck it into my beanie.”

“Oooh. Tres Chic.” I can almost see her nodding thoughtfully in my head, crinkling up her nose a bit as she concentrates. I kinda imagine she has freckles on her nose. Is that weird? Yeah, it’s weird.

“Ok, now. I’m looking at you across the bar after you’ve just called some guy a flapjack for pushing in line. What do I see?”

Fuck, I really don’t know. Why is this so hard? Um. “I’ve got high cheekbones, I guess.” I grinned. “And I’m probably winking at you. I'm hella pale, too. Oregon gets fuck all sunlight.”

“Very nice.” She mutters, appreciatively. Pretty sure she didn’t even realise she’d said it out loud. Gotta say, hella great ego booster there, y’know?

She hmms again. “Ok, that’s great, Chloe. Now, what about your eyes?”

I scoff. Now I know she’s fucking with me. “Fuck off. My eyes? You’re yankin’ my chain or somethin’, aren’t you?”

Her voice is the very picture of innocence. “No, of course not, Chloe! I wouldn’t do that to you. I’m just drawing you. Swear.”

I grumble, but I go along with it. "My eyes are..." I thought about it. Honesty... "They're kinda tired. Like done three all-nighters in a row kinda tired."

“Oh, really?”

“Yeah.” I leant back on the wood railing around my lookout. “A lot of shit’s happened in the last couple of months, right?”

Max sighs. “Yeah...” She’s quiet for a second. I can just hear shuffling about. “Ok, I think I got it. Thanks Chlo.” 

She’s quiet as I hammer the rest of the boards in. I wander into my lookout and sit at the desk. I break the silence. “So, what about you?”

There’s a pause, then “What about me what?”

She actually sounds confused. Aww. “What do you look like? You asked me, right? Only fair if I get to ask you too.” 

She gives an awkward little laugh. “Good point. Um…”

Silence. For like a whole two minutes. Seriously, I got bored enough to stare at the clock in my lookout and actually count.

“Well, I’m short. Tiny, really. Like, height and width wise.”

I grin. Aww. “How tiny are we talking?”

She snorts. “Probably like, half a foot shorter than you.”

I laugh. “Aww. You’re hella tiny!”

She scoffed. “I’m average height, thank you very much.”

I laughed. 

Ickle Maxie! Hah. “Ok, so, what about your eyes?”

Max laughs. “Well, they’re blue. I’ve got a lot of freckles around them, too. Irish heritage, right?”

I can picture it in my head. She does look all tiny and cute, whatever this ‘average height’ bullshit she says. “So, what about your hair? You dyed like me or more of an Au Naturale kinda chick?”

She snorts. “Just plain ‘ole brown. Down to the top of my shoulders.”

Nice. I can practically picture her in my head as I hammer boards.

I keep asking her about what she looks like, smirking as she gets more and more adorable in my head until I finish with the boards.

“Done. My window is now repaired!”

“Congratulations.”

\-----

(Day 9)

Fuck... That is a hella pretty view. Like, a week into this thing, I'd started coming out to this bridge over Thunder Canyon, still a hella ridiculous name by the way, to watch the sunset. Max usually stopped giving me stuff to do by now and it got hella quiet just sitting in my lookout. I had to get out and fucking do something or I'd go insane, so I started coming out here with some food.

It was nice. Still hella quiet, but in a good way. I wasn't really sure what was in the sandwich I'd brought today and, hella judging the book by it's cover when I peeled the thing open, I was hella sure I didn't wanna know.

I took a bite anyways. It wasn't bad. Kinda salty, but meh enough that I ate it anyway. I'd just finished it when Max radioed.

"Hey, Chloe?" She sounded hella nervous. Like she's waiting for the other sock to drop or whatever the fuck the phrase is. I leant back, plucked the radio from my belt and answered. "Yeah?"

"Do you remember the girls from a week ago?"

Be pretty hard to forget those bitches. I nodded, then I remembered again that Max still can't see me so I just said "Yes." Then I frowned. What the fuck happened? "Why..?" Did they finally call the Police like they promised? Am I off to Jail for not one, but two kidnappings and possible murders?

I get hella dramatic when the 'ole anxiety kicks off. Max sighed. "They're gone. Their parents reported them missing. They haven't heard from them in a week."

Shit.

“Crap.”

“Yep.”

I frowned. “So, what do we do?”

“Nothing, for now. I don’t know about you, but I seriously don’t wanna talk to cops.”

I snort. “Yeah. After Rach…” I sigh. “I don’t think I ever wanna see a cop again.” 

Max makes some weird noise I take to mean she agrees. “So, we do nothing then. If they ask, we tell them what we saw. They don’t ask, we don’t say shit.”

“Agreed. Thanks, Chlo… I’ll let you get back to your sunset, ‘kay?”

I nod, still not getting that she can’t see me and I look back out over the canyon.

\-----

(Day 15)

I blink awake. “Chloe?”

Fuck, Max. It’s like, two in the morning… I groan out of bed and amble over to the radio. “Hello?”

“Hey Chlo.”

I grin. “Rach?”

“Yeah, it’s me, Babe. How are you doing?”

“I’m good. Where are you?”

“I’m at home, babe. Where are you? We were gonna go out tonight, remember?” She laughs. “Don’t tell me you fell asleep at the junkyard again?”

I try not to yawn. There’s something I’m... “Hey, it’s ok. We can do it some other time.”

She pauses. “Max seems nice.”

I mmhmm at her. Still trying not to yawn. She laughs quietly. “You sound tired. I’ll let you get back to bed. Bye, babe.”

I mmhmm again. “Bye, Rach.”

I walk back and lie down in bed.

I’m asleep as soon as my head hits my pillow.


	6. Fuck-ups Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN:
> 
> Hey there, Fan-fic-folks!
> 
> This, plus the next chapter are going to be the last ones sticking entirely to Firewatch Game Canon. After these, it’s going to deviate quite considerably, and I mean considerably. Those of you who picked up on my ‘subtle’ clues will know where I’m going with this. Everyone else, well, I hope you enjoy the product of my weird little mind. I saw both things and it just sort of made sense. Kudos if you can name the other fandom I’m using, btw. It’s a favourite of mine.
> 
> So, we finally find out what Max's problem is. I was happy with this before I wrote it, but I'm not so sure now. Let me know what you think.
> 
> Thanks for reading and, as always, please review.

(Day 33)

I pull myself up onto a ledge with a grunt. I take a few deep breaths and radio Max. “Like, is it too hard for the delivery guys to bring stuff all the way up to our towers?”

She snorts. “Well, I get my stuff hand-delivered.”

Woah, what? “How the hell does that work?”

I can practically hear the smug-smirk. “Perks of seniority, I’m afraid. You’re hiking in obnoxiously sticky heat and I get to put my feet up. Isn’t life just so unfair?” She laughs. “Anyways, when you find the drop, can you only take what’s marked for you? I know you have an incredible appetite, but other people in the area get their food there too.”

I shrug. “Fine. Spoilsport.”

I check my map. Ok, good. I’m heading in the right direction.

“So, um." Max started. She hesitated, then continued. "A couple weeks ago you called me. In the middle of the night, I mean. I caught the name Rach through all the sleepy mumbles. Are you doing ok? With her, I mean.”

I sigh. Fucking no. “I shouldn’t be here.”

“Yes, you should.” Aww, look at her, being all assertive and shit. But she’s wrong.

“No, I just ran away from everything.” I correct. “I should be back there, trying to find her.”

“No, you didn’t and no you shouldn’t. We all fuck up sometimes.”

She sighed, shifting about in her chair again. Then she stood up and moved somewhere. I could hear her shoes clacking on the floor. "Look, I... uh. Wowzers, I didn't think saying this would be so hard, I mean, you've told me so much about you, right? And we're friends, right? Ok, ok. Just do it, Max." She always talked to herself when she was nervous. It was irritating at first, but I decided I'd find it cute. "So, a few years ago, I met this guy, Vito. Tall, gorgeous and Italian. I fell and I fell hard."

Ok... So, she was dating a hot guy... I felt weirdly disappointed. What the hell? But still, not seeing the fuck-up yet. "Ok..?"

She took a breath. "We were happy, y'know? Like really, head-over-heels happy. I Iiked him, my parents liked him, my friends liked him. I thought we told each other everything. I told him everything. Him... not so much."

She stood up and walked around a bit. I stayed quiet. She listened to my shit, right? Least I can do is listen back. "Turns out his dad was some big-shot in the Mafia. I'd been going to their fucking house for dinner for nearly two fucking years!"

I heard the thud as she hit something in her lookout. She swore, hella loudly and hella impressively. Even I blushed. She sat down and continued. "They left me alone one day, probably assuming Vito had told me not to wander too much or something. He hadn't, and you know how nosy I am, so I did. I..." She took another deep breath. "I went to the basement. His dad was there. He had a knife, there was a guy... he killed him."

Holy crap... I have no fucking clue what to say... "Shit, Max..."

"Yeah..." Another hella deep breath. "I ran. He came and found me. Hurt my parents. Said if I talked, he'd come back and kill them." She paused. Probably trying to keep her shit together. I know I would be. Shit, and I thought I'd seen stuff. "My parents didn't believe me. They called the cops, told them everything. They pushed and pushed until I talked."

Max sighed, from the sounds of it, probably flopping back on her bed. "They came that night. They..." She took another breath, it was hella shaky, like when you're trying really fucking hard not to cry. I'd breathed like that before. "They killed my Dad. They'd have killed my mom too, if she hadn't called the cops."

I... I really don't know what to say. What the fuck do you say to that?

"After he died, I came out here. If I hadn't talked to the cops, my dad would still be alive, so... we're both fuck-ups, ok? Nobody's perfect. But being out here... It's, uh, hella weird. You get a sort of perspective on things. It took a few years, but eventually my dad wasn't the first thing I thought of when I woke up. It wasn't even the second. It's still there. Still a weight, pulling down on me. It's just one I don't mind carrying so much anymore."

So, we're fuck-ups together, huh? I didn't respond. I just trudged further up the hill towards where Max said the food drop was. It was a hella hard fucking hike. I guess when I do this again next summer, I could ask them to move it closer? Wait. Since when was I gonna do this again? Then I thought. Why would I not? I mean, what the fuck is left for me back in Arcadia Bay? At least the company here is ok.

Ah, shit. Cliff. I rubbed my hands together and hopped onto it, angling my feet to climb up. I got over it in record time and kept on going.

Long story short, I made it the rest of the way. Nothing interesting happened, or I'd tell you about it. Just lots of climbing and walking. Oh, and checking my map. No way I wanted to end up lost out here. I'd have EVEN MORE walking to do...

Oh, thank fuck! There was a sign by the road saying that I was hella close to the drop. I turned a corner, went up a hill and there it was, the big-ass hella-green box.

I opened it up and checked the labels above each of the boxes. One marked 'Biologists', another couple of lookouts and... 'Two Forks'! That's my box. I hefted it out of the drop, then closed and relocked the container.

"I got my box, Max."

"That's great, Chloe. Please tell me you only took your stuff?"

I nodded. "Yeah, yeah. I don't eat that much. Gonna head back and tuck in to some..." I pulled a can out and read the label. You have GOT to be fucking KIDDING me! "Prunes? Fucking Prunes?!"

Max just laughed.

\-----

(Day 64)

“You’ve got a front row seat for what might be the biggest fire of the year.”

I blink, looking at the fire in the distance. “Yeah, it’s hella big.”

Max sighs. “I’m going to call it in. They’ll send in a crew to suppress it, but I bet we’ll be stuck with her for the rest of the summer.”

I wander over and lean on the balcony. “And,” Max continues “She doesn’t have a name yet. I usually try to make it something funny when I come up with one. But…” She pauses. “Why don’t you take this one? It is your first big one, right?”

I grin. Hmm. “What about… Maxine?”

She snorts. “I should never have told you that, should I? No way, Chlo. You’re sweet, but the Maxine Fire? No. We can’t. No.”

“Fine, fine.” I grin. Such an easy fucking target. She’s adorable when she’s flustered. But ok, no Maxine… What else? Come on, Brain. Think. Then, I get it. “How about the Flapjack Fire?”

Max laughs. “Oh, that’s perfect. You really liked that one, didn’t you?”

I grin. “Yeah. It’s funny. Plus the image of you being all tiny and pissed off with some douchebag in a bar and shouting it at him is fucking hilarious.”

She snorts. “Hey, I’m not that tiny! Average height, thank you very much. But fair enough. The Flapjack Fire it is. They’ll probably ask me if it was a cooking accident or something.”

Conversation just trailed off as we watched the fire. It's weirdly pretty, for something so hella destructive. I sighed.

“So, there’s this creek, just down the hill from my lookout and do you know what I love to do?”

I grin. “Skinny dip?”

She snorts. “No, dumbass. I take a bottle of whatever I have and put it in there. I let it chill all day.” I hear her chair scrape on the floor. “Then, on nights like this, when it’s all sticky and way too hot, I have something nice and cool to drink.”

Not bad. I could do with a cold beer right about now. Might have to find a lake and try it with that whisky.

“I learnt it from a friend of mine in Seattle. She’d take a bottle of tequila and make margaritas the size of your head. It was, uh, ‘hella cool’.”

I grinned. I would've rolled my eyes but she sounded so hella proud of using 'hella' right. She sighed, all melancholy. “You’d like it there.”

I groaned. "No thanks. I’ve had some hella bad experiences with Tequila." And I really fucking had. Let's just say that cop car was never gonna be the same again...

"Well, maybe you just need a good one."

I shrug. “Maybe." I look out over at Max’s lookout. But maybe she’s right. Maybe it is time...

I kinda drift off as I stare until she interrupts. “Are you looking at the fire?”

I shrug. “Nope. I’m looking at you.”

Max laughs. “Dumbass. Look at the fire.” She sighs. “I love how they look at night. During the day it’s just smoke, but when the sun is down, you can just… get lost.”

I stare off into the fire. I know what she means. “Yeah.”

She takes a deep breath and… “I’m glad you’re here.”

I grin. Aww, Maxie. “Me too.” And it’s weird, but I actually am. Sometimes, it’s good to just… get away from everything. I felt like I was running away, but now, I’m just hella glad to have some fucking space.

“I don’t really talk to the other lookouts as much as I talk to you. Not in the same way.”

Oh? Wait, what? Is she saying what I think she’s..?

“I wish I was over there.”

I nod, looking out over the fire. “Me too.”

“We could sit outside. We could talk. Without these radios, I mean. We could, um… Y’know..?”

Aww. She sounds so adorable and unsure. It’s hella cute. I grin, leaning over the railing on my lookout. “What? What could we do, Maxie?”

Pretty sure she picks up on my challenge, ‘cause she shuffles about again and I can pretty much hear the smirk in her voice when she says “Let me tell you.”


	7. Shadows in the Trees

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, Fan-fic-folks!
> 
> Jeez, this chapter was hard to write. Trying to transition to a more descriptive style than the dialogue-centric style I've been doing so far is harder than I thought it'd be. Plus, I kinda forgot to write the first bit (Everything from the start to Chloe finding Taylor & Victoria.) until tonight, so it will probably come off as kinda rushed. Sorry 'bout that. Like I said. Life. Hella Hectic. Aaaaargh.
> 
> Also, for the record, Fishing is harder than Chloe thinks. Boring as an assurance company board meeting too, but still hard.
> 
> Thanks for reading and, as always, please review.

(Day 75)

“Chloe, you know you’re not supposed to…”

“Dude.” I interrupt. “There’s no fucking way I’m eating any more of that jerky shit. I’m gonna go catch my dinner.”

She pauses. “Uh, Chloe?”

“Yeah?”

“Have you ever gone fishing before?”

I shrug. “Nah, but how hard can it be?”

Max snorts. "Good luck with that, Chloe."

Pfft. Ye of little fucking faith. Its just fishing, its not like, rocket science. I pulled the fishing stuff onto my shoulders a little higher and kept walking. What? It's hella heavy and hard to fucking carry.

I managed to stumble over to the lake without breaking any of the stuff or any of my bones, which I call a fucking win! I fall over and drop it all on the ground, taking a breath or ten before I get it all set-up.

The radio crackles. "Hey, Chloe?"

"Yes?"

"You know there's no fish in that lake, right?" Max sounds... amused.

I stare down at the rod.

Fucking. Shit!

"Are you fucking serious?"

The radio crackles and a guys voice comes through. "...need to re-secure the pens. Couple of the beasts got ou..."

I pause.

What.

"Uh, Max..?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah."

"Shit."

There was a rustling coming from all around me. Fuck! What do I do, what do I do?

The rustling got louder and louder and I just kept spinning around, trying to work out where it was fucking coming from so I could run the other way. I was looking at the lake, trying to make out something on the shore, when something barreled into my back and knocked me over.

We landed in a hella uncomfortable heap and I... Wait, what? It was one of the bitches from the lake!

She looked like one of those abused dogs you see on all the charity adverts. Hella panicked and hella hurt. There was a scratch on her face, like animal claw marks, still bleeding. Her eyes met mine and she blinked. “It's you! Jesus, we have to fucking run! There’s something out there!” It all kinda just fell out of her. Shit, she was saying everything so hella quickly I could barely understand what the fuck she was talking about.

Something out there?

Fuck, the idiots must've run into a bear or something. Maybe pissed something off so much it came after them. I...

There was a screaming howl from the woods. Ok, whatever the fuck that was, it's no bear. The girl screamed and grabbed onto me harder than any cop ever had. I grimaced and shoved her off me. The other girl had fallen over us and landed with her back against a tree. She had her hands wrapped around her knees and was glancing all over the fucking place. She didn't even look at me when I yelled at her to get the fuck up.

Shit, what the hell happened to them? I pulled her up on her feet and yelled in her face. "Snap the fuck out of it! I'll..." Back to the lookout. Get them back to the lookout and call Max. "I'll take you back to the lookout. You'll be safe in there."

The girl still never made eye-contact. The one who'd fallen on top of me was just sitting where I'd shoved her, frantically looking all over the place. I pulled her to her feet too. Fuck, well, It works on TV, so... I slapped her and yelled in her face. "Calm the fuck down and keep it together! I can't drag you out of here myself, you..." Ok, you don't really need to know the rest of it. It worked though. She blinked and actually seemed to notice me for the first time. So, I did it to the other girl too.

They both still looked scared shitless, but at least they were actually here. "Come on," I checked my map and compass, just to make sure I knew the way back. "I'm taking you to my lookout. We can call for help there, okay? You just gotta keep your fucking shit together."

Both blondes nodded numbly. "O...okay."

I turned and set out into the woods, leading them back to my lookout.

\-----

"We're sorry."

"Sorry?" I turned and looked at the haughty blonde bitch sitting on my bed. I'd given them both blankets, 'cause... well, 'cause I'd seen them do it to people on TV. I think it helps with... shock? I have no fucking clue, I'm a firewatcher, not a doctor! I scowled. "You're sorry? After all the shit you idiots have fucking pulled..." I might've been ranting a bit.

"Jesus, would you just shut up for a second and listen to me?" She sighed, ran her hand through the bangs of her pixie cut. "I'm trying to say thanks. You could've left us out there, but you didn't, so yeah. Thanks."

I shrugged. "Nah, I'm a bitch, but I wasn't just gonna leave you out there. Part of the job to look after dumbasses like you."

The other blonde chirped up. "What even is your job? Are you like a ranger or something?"

I grinned. "Something like that." I pulled over the lookout's one chair and straddled it like a cop from an old movie. "So, what the fuck happened? You two idiots run into a bear or something?"

Blonde #1 scowls as Blonde #2 slumps her shoulders hella slightly. "No!"

She sighs. "I have no fucking idea. We were wandering along some shitty path and headed into a little glade when something started fucking howling. It starting rustling closer and closer to us, so obviously we ran like fuck."

I leaned in and frowned. "Then what?"

Blonde #2 shrugs at me. "That's when you came along. I think we were running for a while."

Blonde #1, I should really ask their names at some point, shook a bit. Could've been a shudder, I dunno. Again, really not good at this emotional shit. "Jesus, It was so fucking fast..."

"Shit." I leaned back, scoffing. "You idiots probably just wandered into some wolf den. You fuckers are hella unsubtle." I stood up. "I'm gonna report to the boss, see what she wants me to do. Stay in here."

They grumble, but they both stay where they are as I head outside. I pull out my radio, now actually charged. "Hey Max."

"Chloe? Dog, I was so worried! You just stopped answering! I was ten minutes away from calling the rangers in after you."

Aww. She worried about me? I feel weirdly... eh. "I'm fine, Max. Just ran into something that required a hella lot of attention."

"Oh?" She sounded curious again. I grinned. "What happened?"

"You remember the idiots from the lake?" I looked back in at them. They were just leaning on each other, looking numbly off at something. "Well, I found 'em on the road from the lake to..." I checked my map. "Wapiti Meadow. Two of them, anyways. I think they wandered into a wolf den or something."

I told her the whole story they'd told me. When I'd finished, she got up and walked over to a window. I could hear her chair scraping on the floor. "Wowzers... Those fucking idiots. We put up warnings and survival instructions for a fucking reason!" She punched a wall and growled.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." I sighed and made a decision. Probably a hella stupid one, but that's nothing new. "Listen, I was gonna go check out the Meadow. Their friend might be stuck up a tree somewhere or something." The girls were assholes, but I'm not that much of a bitch.

Max thought for a second and replied "Yeah. Good plan. I'll call in some rangers, get the girls lifted out. You don't need those two dumbasses underfoot all the time, right?"

I grinned. Max was an awesome boss. "Hella nope. Thanks, Max. I'll call ya later, gotta let the dumbasses know what's happening."

She laughed. "I'll hold you to that. No more disappearing, ok? I... I was worried. Who the hell was that voice we heard? If someone was on our band, we've got to find out who. We'll talk about it when you get back."

I smiled. That feeling was back again. "Yes ma'am. Stay hella, Maxie."

I stowed my radio back at my belt and went back into the lookout. "I'm gonna head out, see if I can't find your friend." I started packing up my shit to head out. I checked the gun. Might need it this time.

They both looked at each other, immediately hella panicked. "You can't go out there! What if it gets you!"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, unlike you idiots, I paid attention in the survival orientation." Not, like, a lot of attention, but still. "I know how to handle shit out here. My boss is gonna send someone to come get you, so hang tight and don't wander off again." I turned and glared at them. "I'm not coming to find you two idiots again if you do."

They shared a look and nodded dumbly. I felt a tiny bit guilty for the hella hard bitching, but if it got through their dumb little heads that they screwed up, maybe they wouldn't do it again.

Well, fuck. Maybe this is how step-douche felt when he was bitching at me. The guilt flared up even more. Shit. I might owe that asshole an apology. Not a big one, but maybe there's some chance there, right?

\-----

I headed back up to where I found the girls. I abseiled down a cliff into a little valley and pulled myself up a few ledges running up the opposite wall. I'd just pulled myself over the ledge when I heard that screaming howl again. I glanced around, looking for whatever the fuck was making the noise, but I couldn't see anything.

That's when I heard the rustling coming from all around me again. I sat waiting, listening for it. The noise repeated again, closer and closer. I saw something hella small sprinting around out there like the fucking Xenomorph from Alien. Quick and fast and just out of the corner of my eye and probably trying to eat my face. I'd seen Alien, I knew what happened to people who tried to fight scary things that ran about hella quickly in the dark. I pulled myself up and pulled the gun. The howl started again, then something else howled and something else and something else until a whole bunch of these things were howling. There was a pack out there. I looked at the gun, then out into the woods.

Fuck this shit. I can find the missing bitch later, I can't find her if I get eaten by wolf-alien things! So, I ran. Whatever the things were, they were in my way back, so I headed the other way. According to my map, there should be a way out through... Wapiti Meadow. Just Wapiti Meadow. Ok, maybe I'm gonna find her anyways.

I was running along, getting through everything hella easily. I was pretty sure I'd lost the things a while back, but I wasn't gonna take the chance. Then, I hit a... snag. A big one. "You're not supposed to be here." A huge chain-link fence blocked the entire path. I walked up and down it, but there was no way through, just a locked gate.

I pulled out my radio. "Uh, Max?"

"Yeah, Chloe?"

I looked up at the big chain-link fence covering the way into the Meadow. "I'm stuck! There's a huge fucking chain-link fence just sitting in my fucking way."

"A fence? In the Meadow? What the fuck? There's not supposed to be a fence there."

I snorted. "Yeah, I was just telling it that."

"You've got to get in there. Wowzers, we can't have people building in here, it's so unsafe. Is there a gate you can get through?"

I shook my head. "Nope. There's a lock on it."

"Shit." Max sounded more frustrated than I did. "If only you had an axe. The shitty knife they give us won't be enough to cut through. Did you bring the gun? It's loud, but it'll have to do."

Huh. I pulled the little pistol they gave us and blew off the lock. I radioed Max. "Done."

"Great. Get in there and check it out. Radio if you find anything."

I crept down the hill towards the huge tower-antennae thing. I got to the bottom and it was just a big, weird metal thing that beeped and whirred shit at me. No fucking clue what it was for.

I shrugged and headed further down the hill. It lead to a little clearing with a cabin, some tents and a weird string squares thing stabbed into the floor. I radioed Max and reported what I saw.

She radioed back. "Wowzers... sounds like quite the operation. Anyone around?"

I checked the tents. They were wrecked. No-one in there, just a bunch of beds that were hella broken and tossed all over the place like a fucking tornado had blown through. One had a big table, like a... a mess? Whatever the place where soldiers eat is called. "Nobody here. Looks like something hella bad happened to them. Maybe the wolves the girls pissed off?"

"Could be. I've never heard of a wolf flipping beds though."

I didn't respond.

I walked up to the cabin, frowning when I saw the skull carved into the door. That weird symbol was everywhere. I radioed Max. "Hey, Max. Does a weird skull with antlers mean anything to you?"

She pondered for a second. "Nope, sorry. Why?"

"'Cause I've been seeing it hella often all over the place."

Max hmmed. "Probably archaeologists or something. We get those sorts coming along for their research projects every so often. They usually go home disappointed after a few months. Maybe these guys are archaeologists and nobody told me. Wouldn't be the first time. Check it out anyway."

Huh. I pushed open the cabin door and headed in.

Wow...

"Yeah. Definitely archaeologists." The place was full of stuff. There were bookshelves along every wall with a whole load of skulls and Native American shit stuck in between them. Fuck, one wall had a BOW on one of those wood mounting board things.

I wandered over and picked up a book from one of the shelves, flipping it open. Something about a Great Spirit and a bear? Oh, hey, the skull thing. I flicked over the page. Huh. It's supposed to protect against evil spirits. I rolled my eyes. "Woooo." I grinned. Spirits! Heh. Maybe it's a sign against vodka hangovers. Did Native Americans have vodka?

I put the book back and wandered over to the computer. I shook the mouse and it just logged straight in. Booyah! They had a massive map of the area, with little markers and notes and shit. "Hey, Max. I found something."

"Oh?"

I clicked something on the map near my lookout. "They're definitely archaeologists. They've studying those Native American dudes you were talking about."

Max sighs. "Well, that's just fucking great. Someone high-up probably forgot to copy me on the bloody memo."

"That happen a lot?" I poked into another pile of papers.

"Not really. Definitely annoying when it does though."

I heard a hella loud whooshing sound, and then the hella loud crack of shotgun blasts. I ran outside to check it out. I stopped at the door, my jaw dropping hella fast. "Shit!" Everywhere was on fire. I couldn't see whoever was shooting, if anyone even was. Could've been some of the tech exploding or some shit like that for all I fucking knew.

I worked my way through, dodging and moving around all the burning shit now in the field. I could hear Max yelling on the radio, but I couldn't really answer. Fire, y'know?

I grinned when I saw the clear path up. It wasn't clear for long. I took three steps and a burning tree fell, blocking my fucking way out!

I had to jump it. They did it in the movies, right? How hard could it be?

"You gotta do it, Price!" I yelled at myself. "Gotta..." I looked at the burning log blocking my way out. "Fuck it." I jumped.

"Aaagh!" I pulled my coat off just as it caught fire and threw it back, never stopping running.

I reached the top of the hill and finally had to stop, buckling over. "Fuck!" They make it look so much easier in the movies. I bent over, abs aching and breathing hella deeply. I looked back down the hill at the burning camp. I could've fucking been in that. Shit...

Then, I heard another howl and started running. I didn't stop till I got back to the lookout.


	8. Is There Anybody Out There?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN:  
> Hey there, Fan-fic-folks!
> 
> Wow, ok, it has been a while, hasn't it? Sorry about that. Uni/volunteer work, y'know? That shit is cray-cray. (That's what the kids say these days, right? I'm hip, I'm happenin', I'm cool daddy-o.)
> 
> So, I took liberal 'artistic' liberties with the bear situation. I got a whole bunch of Bear-Facts from Tylerbamafan34 (Thank you so much, btw. Immensely helpful dude.), one of which was bears run-speed. I don't have the exact number in front of me, but it was pretty gorram fast. So, I kinda ignored that in favour of Chloe being able to run and dodge away from the bear. So, yeah. Bears are dangerous. Stay in school, kids.
> 
> Anyways. Enjoy, yadda yadda, sorry it's late and all that jazz. Hope y'all like this one.
> 
> Thanks for reading and, as always, please review.

I hit the lookout about twenty minutes later. I'd lost whatever the fuck was howling at me back at the cabin, but I ran the entire way anyway. Not taking any fucking chances with Wolves.

Blondes #1 and #2 looked at me like I was insane when I burst through the door, slamming it shut behind me and leaning back on it, breathing hella heavily. "Jesus, what the hell happened? Did you find Courtney?"

I opened my mouth to talk, but all that came out was a weird, strangled-sounding wheeze. Shit, I'm more outta shape than I thought. I hold up a hand and stand there for a second, trying hella hard to catch my breath.

Blonde #2 shuts up, but the bitchy one keeps talking. "We told you not to fucking go out there, what if you brought it back here, you've killed us all, blah, blah fucking blah." Ok, so she didn't say that last bit, but I'd stopped listening by then.

When I got my breath back, I straightened up and glared at her. "Would you shut the fuck up for a minute?"

Her jaw dropped. "You what?"

Shit, has no-one ever told her to shut the fuck up before? That explains so hella much...

I glared harder. "Dude. If you're gonna ask me shit, you gotta actually wait for me to fucking answer." I throw her a smirk. "Only polite, right? I did save your lives and all."

She bristles, but shuts up. Thank fuck. I was ten seconds away from pulling out the duct tape. I grin. "Thank you."

She glares, but stays shut up. Thank fuck. I started talking before she could start again. "So, I couldn't find your friend. I'm gonna head out again tomorrow though, check a few places she might be hiding. Too many wolves in the area for me to go tonight." "So, I took some stuff from your campsite, it's under the sink."

Blonde #1 glares at me again and butts in. "Yeah, the one you destroyed, you crazy..."

I interrupt straight back. "For fucks sake. Why would I wreck your campsite? I've got a fucking gun. If you pissed me off that much, I'd just shoot you."

She frowns. "You might have a point. A seriously fucking psychopathic point, but still. So, what about our shit?"

I growl. "You're gonna put it out on the floor and go the fuck to sleep, ok?"

Blonde #1 bristles again. "Jesus, you're such a bitch."

I snort. "The biggest and baddest, blondie. Now shut the fuck up and do what you're told."

In hindsight, probably not the best thing to say.

She immediately growls. "What the fuck did you just say to me, trash?"

I laugh. "Oooh, good one. Even your insults are shitty."

We keep bitching for another couple minutes until Blonde #2 butts in. "Would you guys just stop! This isn't helping!"

Me and Blonde #1 just glare at each other.

"Wait, okay." I rub my hand over my face and sigh. "What are you two called, anyway?" Can't really keep referring to them as Blonde #1 and Blonde #2, can I? Can I? Hmm...

Blonde #1 "I'm Victoria Chase." She waves at Blonde #2. "And this is Taylor."

Taylor waves. "Hi."

"Awesome. I'm Chloe."

I help them find their sleeping bags and shit and, after a rant about me not grabbing something or other from Victoria, they got settled on the floor.

I head out to the balcony and radio Max. "Hey, Max?"

"Hey, Chlo." She yawns. "How're the newbies?"

I snorted. "Still dumb as fuck. Kinda impressed though. It's been, like, a couple months since they disappeared. If they've survived that long on their own, maybe they're not as dumb as they look."

Max laughs lightly. "Maybe. But maybe not. Remember the fireworks?"

"Hey, no-one ever said smart people couldn't have their dumb moments too, right?"

There's a couple of quiet minutes as we both try to work out how to talk about the elephant in the room. Or, in the forest, or whatever.

"So..."

She snorts. "Yeah, Chloe. The Fire. What happened?"

"Someone set it. There was..." I breathed in. "Someone was out there. I heard a couple of shotgun blasts, then a whoosh and then... poof. Fire."

"Oh, fuck. Seriously? We've got an armed arsonist out here?"

I shrug. "Yeah. I mean, I didn't see anyone, but I definitely heard a shotgun."

She makes a weird noise halfway between a growl and a sigh. "Dogdammnit!" She thumps something, probably her table and I can pretty much guarantee she's scowling out her window right now. "The trail is supposed to stop people with arson records! Who the fuck could've done this?"

"Look, um. I kinda have an idea about that. You remember on the radio? The guy was talking about cages..."

I trailed off, knowing she'd get where I was going.

"Oh god... Poachers."

"Yeah, I think so. That's not that bad, right?"

"Not that bad?" Max sounds astonished. "Wowzers, Chloe. Of course it's fucking bad. The entire point of these forests is to conserve things. Letting poachers run around is kinda against everything we stand for." She slams a fist into something and growls. "You must've walked into something at the cabin and they tried to scare you off."

Those assholes. "Ok, so what do we do?"

There's no response.

"Max?"

"I don't know. The lines are still down, but I should be able to radio any park wardens/rangers in the immediate area."

"What if there isn't anybody in the area, Max? What the fuck do we do then?" I sound panicky as fuck and take a couple of breaths to try keep my shit together. Biting Max's head off isn't gonna help, Price.

She sighs. "I really don't know, Chlo."

I turn and head back into the lookout, stepping over the two passed-out blondes and flopping down on my bed.

\--

I wake up earlier than both Victoria and Taylor. Guess Max's early morning demands to do shit actually were hella useful after all.

I swing outta bed and gingerly step over the two sleeping newbies to the kitchenette-thing. I open a cupboard and start looking through the food.

"Shit." We are gonna run outta food hella fast. Splitting my supplies between the three of us meant it'd last a third as long, right? Right. So, we need more.

I grab my gun and other gear and head out, leaving the girls asleep on the floor. I'll make something when I get back.

I trek back up to the delivery point with no trouble at all. Do wolves only hunt at night or something? I had no fucking clue. So, I pulled out my radio. "Hey, Max? Do wolves hunt during the day?"

I get a response a couple minutes later. "Mostly no. More prey at night and they can still see just as well in the dark. But around here, they sometimes do. We've got a lot of wildlife, so wolves sometimes go after animals in the day, too." She pauses. "Why'd you ask?"

I shrug. "Just checking if I was gonna get eaten or something."

She snorts. "So long as you don't wander into a lair, I think you'll be fine."

Awesome. "Well, I'll try not to do that, I guess."

She muffles a yawn. "Probably best. How would the newbies survive without you?"

I grinned. "Exactly. It's a fucking blessing."

I opened the deliveries box and took the other two packages. Sorry Fourpeak and Rhinehorn. I kinda need it more than you do right now.

The one for the biologists is gone though. Huh. Well, I guess those guys are just hella efficient.

I had to repack a couple of the deliveries, but I managed to get it all in my pack. When I'd emptied the box, I shut it and headed back.

I trot off down the path back to the lookout and... oh... crap. I back a few steps away, keeping my eyes on the big-ass brown bear facing opposite from me on the path.

Ok, ok. Don't panic. What did the course say to do again? Shit, how the hell should I know? Um, ok, ok.

Remain calm. No sudden movements. Well, I was pretty much stopped, so... Check.

Ok, then try to get the fuck out... Yeah. Not check. There are a lot of twigs in the forest, and it was summer, so they were all dried twigs. When I stood on one and it snapped, it sounded hella like a gunshot.

The bear roared. I ran for it.

Now, I'm not the fittest person. I never played sports, or went to the gym. But I had long legs and I could fucking run like a spooked deer when I needed to. Unfortunately, turns out bears are kinda fast too.

I took off down the path, the bear hot on my heels. I swung off a tree, taking the corner hella fast. I managed to keep my feet moving and just kept running the minute my feet hit ground again.

Oh, shit! There was a tree across the middle of the trail, scratched and snapped to shit. I had to do that weird pace-changing thing with my feet as I prepared to jump. I nearly slowed down enough for the bear to catch me, but I just kept out of its reach until I hit the right point and vaulted right over the tree.

The bear didn't bother, and just charged straight through. I dived left to avoid it and went through a bush, landing by the edge of a fucking cliff! "Woah!" I shouted, automatically crawling back from the edge as fast as I could, until a growl from the bear and the sound of it trying to thrash its way through the bushes reminded me what I was running from.

I checked around me. Shit! The bear was on one side, a hella sheer wall on the other and the cliff drop on the other. I thought quickly. There was only one way I could go. But shit, it was not gonna be fun.

I swung over the edge and started climbing down as quickly as I could. Fuck, I really, really, really hate this. I'm pretty much clinging onto the wall by my fucking fingernails. I didn't exactly have time to sink a line.

The thrashing got hella louder and the bear's head appeared at the top of the cliff above me. It swung at me a few times, growling at me too. I grinned up at it. I was safe. Bears can't climb cliffs, right?

I heard another muffled howl back up the cliff, a couple of hella terrified sounding screams and then nothing.

All I could see below me was a little gorge-thing and a lotta thorns. Shit. I gotta go back up. I start climbing, muttering hella random shit to myself so I didn't psych myself out or anything.

I hit the top and pulled myself back over the cliff edge, taking a look around.

The bear was fucking lying on the floor at the edge of the path, bleeding everywhere. I blinked at it for a second. Ok, did not expect that. What the fuck happened?

I crept towards it. It was definitely fucked up. It was just whimpering hella quietly and rocking about.

I was pretty sure it hadn't noticed me. Either that or it had and it just didn't give a shit. Do Bears get that whole existentialist deathbed thing? Y'know, regretting all the hikers it didn't eat or something? Eh. Probably not.

I pulled out my radio and crept closer. Not too close, I didn't wanna get hit, just close enough so that I could actually see shit.

"Hey, Max?" I whisper.

"Uh, hey?" She whispers back.

"I think found your problem bear. It kinda got ripped to..." That's as far as I get.

The bear screamed as it suddenly got dragged backwards into the bushes so fast it almost fucking flew.

Whatever did it was way faster than a fucking wolf. I could hear a rustle and hella quiet woosh as it ran around in the forest around me.

Max's voice comes through the radio. "Chloe?" She sounds hella worried. "What happened? What was that?"

I'm not really paying attention to her though, doing that frantically looking in every direction thing the people who die in the beginning of shitty 80s horror movies always do.

I was not gonna be one of those people.

I was kinda fucked where I was though. I was almost completely surrounded by thick bushes (Heh.) and clumps of trees and shit. Then there was the cliff over behind me. I was pretty sure I knew where I was, though. Kinda north-eastish of the lake. Hella close to it too, I think. I could run it, couldn't I?

Max is still talking, which was kinda sucky 'cause she was hella loud. I hissed into the radio "ShuttupIneedtohide!"

She immediately clammed up, thank fuck. I was pretty sure that whatever was out there knew where I was, but it didn't seem to wanna come close and I was happy to keep that shit going as long as possible. I went back to checking out the area and working out how to get to the lake.

Barely a split second before I decided to run, there was a bright flash and a fizzing sound a hella short distance north of me. I could hear someone, a guy, I think, shouting. No fucking clue what he was saying though.

There was another one of those weird howl-screams and the hella loud crack of a shotgun again. Were the poachers were trying to catch the super-fast wolves or something? Whatever was happening, it was getting quieter. I think the poachers were drawing them away. Honestly, I didn't give a shit what they were doing. I was just fucking happy I wasn't gonna get eaten.

I crouched down and tried to stay hella quiet. When the noise finally stopped, I stood back up and radioed Max. "I think it's gone."

"What's gone? Are you ok?"

I shrug. "Yeah. And I have no fucking idea. It was hella fast though."

She shuffles about. "So, a wolf?"

"I... I don't know. Can wolves pull an entire fucking bear on their own?"

She shuffles some more. "What?"

I tell her what happened, sparing no detail. "You think the poachers saved you?"

I shrug again. "Maybe not on purpose, but they scared the thing off."

She doesn't respond.

"Uh, Max?"

She starts. "Oh, yeah, sorry. Just thinking."

I wait. When she doesn't keep going, I prompt. "About..?"

She stands up. I can hear her wandering about in her lookout. "That we're all alone out here, Chloe. I've tried the radio and there's no-one around. We're stuck resolving this on our own until I can get ahold of someone." She sighs. "Wowzers, that was... bleak."

I snort. "Yeah, kinda. Way to be a downer, Max. We got this shit. We're big" I remember Max's description of herself from a few weeks back. "Well, I'm big. You're tiny."

She laughs, hella quietly. I keep going, but trail off hella quickly as I start to ramble just random shit.

"You're right, Chlo'. We got this. Now, you'd better get back before the newbs wake up and panic or something."

I grin. "Yeah, I probably should. Talk to ya later, Maxie."

I stow the radio on my belt and hurry off home.

\--

When I come up to the top of my lookout, I see them both sitting at my table, staring off into space. They both jump a fucking mile when I open the door. Heh. I resist the urge to laugh hella well. Face of steel, that's me.

I stomp over and dump my backpack on the table. Taylor pokes lightly at it. "So, where've you been? We woke up and you were just gone."

I shrug and start rifling through the food. "We needed more food, I went to go grab some."

Victoria groans. "Oh jesus christ, thank fuck. I'm starving. What did you get?"

I reach in and pull out a few packets. "A shitload. Hope you're a fan of jerky." I grin.

The look of complete fucking despair Victoria gives me is literally worth all the near animal-mauling-death experiences I've had over the last couple days.

It's hella awesome.


	9. The Wave Finder

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, Fan-fic-folks!
> 
> Yeah, this one is kinda shit. I kept working on it, but I can't quite get it quite how I want it, y'know? Mostly just works as filler to explain how Chloe gets some gizmos.
> 
> Also, I have a new joke. "Did you hear about the new muslim butchers opening in your area? It's called Halal, is it meat you're looking for?" I've been telling it to everyone I know all week and laughing hella hard while they just stand there, looking at me all disappointed-like. It's hilarious.
> 
> Thanks for reading and, as always, please review.

After a shitload of complaining, the two noobs dig into the food. I take a couple of breakfast bars and tear into them, watching the other two eat. Taylor grins at me. "I've never been so fucking glad to taste beef jerky in my life!"

I snort. "Speak for yourself. After a couple of months of eating this shit, I fucking hate the stuff."

Victoria looks at me thoughtfully. "Huh."

I raise an eyebrow. "What?"

Victoria eyes me, then the food. "I never thought I'd ever agree with you on anything." She stares down at it with more fucking dread than I'd ever seen. "

I stare back for a second, then laugh. "Beef Jerky, bringing everyone together with it's shittiness."

Taylor grins around a mouth of the stuff.

\--

After eating, the two blondes head to bed.

I stay up, out on the balcony. I like looking at the stars. I don't do it hella often, but it's fun to do, especially with a bottle of something.

I sigh and lean back against the outside wall. Then, I jump when a hella loud howl echoes around me.

Shit.

I quickly grab my stuff and run out into the woods. I couldn't tell you why.

I somehow, I've no fucking idea how, manage to keep up with the wolves, tracking them through the forest. It's weirdly obvious once you start to see it. A snapped twig, a hella disheveled-looking bush, that sorta shit. It all leads me out, deeper and deeper into the forest.

I stop.

I'm all alone. In a dark forest. With wolves all around me.

That's when I realise I did something hella, hella stupid. 'bout time for it, right? Even a dumbass like me learns eventually.

Something around me howls. I immediately stop and listen.

There's another howl...

I turn and I run like a scared rabbit.

What? I don't wanna get eaten.

Seriously though, this job has done fucking wonders for my stamina. I can run hella fast and hella far now. I manage to get pretty far ahead of the wolves howling, leaving them way behind me.

...until I trip on a shitty-ass fucking log sticking out in the middle of the bloody path. I swear, loudly and the wolf-howls get hella closer. I crawl to my feet and start running again, this time limping as pain flashes through my fucking leg.

Shit! Fucking log!

I manage to keep up the pace for a while until the wolves get closer to me. They dash around in the forest around me, rustling hella loudly whenever they go by.

Something right next to me howls loudly. I whirl way too fast, falling on my ass.

I spider-crawl backwards hella fast until my back hits a tree.

My face flashes around, just looking for anything I can see coming towards me. There's a hella sudden burst of fire over in the distance. The wolf-things howl and the fire goes off again. Shit, do the poachers have fucking flamethrowers?

There's a couple of hella quick bursts of fire, with a few shotgun blasts and some howling in the background, then the forest around me goes hella quiet. I wait for a couple of seconds.

Huh. There's nothing..?

I wait some more.

Still nothing. I grin. Fucking hell! I survived that shit!

I punch the air. "Woo!"

Then I shut up. What the hell happened? The more I thought about it, the less sense this shit made. Wolves wouldn't just run away, right? Ah, shit. Curiosity killed the fucking cat, but satisfaction brought it back. I've gotta check it out.

I poke around the area and...

Huh.

There's a bag hanging off a tree. Literally, just hanging from some branches. One of those weird hipster side-bags. I wander over and pick it off the tree. I look down at it. What the hell. I open it.

Ok... I pull out a metal tube. What the hell is this thing? I radio Max. "So, I found these weird metal tubes in a bag just hanging on a tree..."

She sighs. "How specific. Dog, Chloe, I need a little more than that."

I describe it. Kinda vaguely, if I'm honest, but what the hell am I gonna say? They're medium-sized metal tubes.

"They sound like flares. Try twisting the top."

I checked and yep. There it was. "Yeah, it's there."

"Cool. Twist that to activate it when you need some light. Just, y'know, don't do it under a tree or anything. There are way too many fires around here already."

I nod, forgetting again that she can't fucking see me. "Will do. These things are hella cool. Do you think they're the Poacher's?"

"Probably. Unless you think there's someone else who'd be wandering around the forest with freaking flares."

Good point. "Pshaw. Could be. You don't know."

She laughs, trailing off. I immediately know she's thinking about something. I can practically fucking hear the gears turning in her head. "Whatcha thinking about?"

"Well. You said you found the flares on a tree. That means the poacher dropped them while running away, so maybe..."

It clicks. "Maybe he dropped something else!"

She sits down at her desk. "Exactly. Check around, see if you can find anything."

I poke around some more, blindly pushing through bushes at a couple points as the fucking things get hella overgrown in some places.

My foot hits something with a solid clunk and I swear loudly. "Shit!" Owowowowow! That really fucking hurt! I grit my teeth, pull my shit together and look down at whatever the fuck I stubbed my goddamn toe on.

It's a little metal box on a stick. I reach down and pick it up. There's a little screen and a bunch of buttons on it. What the hell is..?

Ohfuckwhatwasthat? I whirl as the forest around me starts to rustle.

The rustling around me gets louder and fucking louder and the thing in my hand starts beeping like crazy. I wave it around me, keeping my eyes on the forest around me. Whenever the rustling goes past, the doodad thing beeps hella loudly.

Holy shit, this thing tracks them? No wonder those poacher assholes were always around when these wolves are.

The beeping suddenly gets louder. I dodge down just as something wooshes over my head. I straighten back up and look over my shoulder. Shit! I just nearly got tankslapped by a fucking wolf!

I light up a flare and jab upwards just as another wolf leaps over me. It howls in pain and goes skidding off into the bushes. I wave the flare vaguely in its direction, tossing it and lighting up another when it burns out. More and more howls sound around me, like in the movies where the wolves are all calling to each other. I try to stay fucking calm, but it's not fucking easy. You try being calm when you're in the middle of a fucking pack of super-wolves!

I take a breath, trying not to show weakness. That goads them on, right? I remember that from somewhere. Not sure if it was the briefing or not, but still. Might as well give it a go, right?

I straighten up. Come on, Chloe. You can do this.

I keep the flares going and make my way back towards the lookout. The wolves stay with me until I hit the straight cliff at the edge of the lookout area and start climbing up. I never see a single one, just hear the rustling suddenly speed away until the forest around me is hella quiet again.


	10. Missing the Signs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, Fan-fic-folks!
> 
> I don't really have anything new to say here: this chapter wasn't that hard or easy to write, I've no real life-news, nothing at all. So, just in case you aren't following The Blackwell Job or haven't read any of my new stuff, I'm just gonna recopy the 'ole "Hey, I'm back now!" message.
> 
> Finally done with my first year of uni! Last essays handed in, last exams suffered through, fuck yeah! I know why students get the whole lazy and unenergetic reputation now. Learning things is EXHAUSTING. I think I did okay though. Good enough to get into my second year, anyway and that's all I need. How are the rest of you doing? Finals and exams are happening/have happened for a lot of people and all.
> 
> Oh, and I've got a chapter of The Island to upload, but I'm vry drunk and probably twice as tired and I still need to reply to reviews and do a last runthrough of it, so that'll be uploaded when I wake up tomorrow. 
> 
> Thanks for reading and, as always, please review.

Oh... fuuuuck. Every muscle in my body is pissed off at me right now. Seriously, I'm pretty sure this is how I'd feel if I just sprinted a marathon. I think I'm gonna die. Am I gonna die? I haven't felt this bad since hiking up to this place on the first day.

Somehow, I manage to stumble my way up to the lookout and pull myself up the stairs, one by fucking one.

Okay, so I wasn't that bad, but still. Hella pooped. You try running away from a pack of wolves through a hella dense forest. It's hard.

I flop down on the floor of the landing and just stare up at the stars and breathe.

In.

Out.

In.

Out.

In...

Out...

Aargh.

When I finally recatch my breath, I pull out my radio. "Hey Max?"

"Chloe! I'm so glad you're okay. What happened?"

I snort. "Well, I found the wolves. I think. It was hella dark and I never saw any of them, but yeah." I hold up the little metal box thing and take a look at the screen. "And I think I worked out how the poachers are always where the wolves are."

Max sits up. "Oh?"

I described the Box and what happened with the wolves. I can hear Max opening a bottle and sitting down on something. "It tracks them?"

I shrug. "I think so. If the poachers have another one, we'll be able to track the same shit they can track, right? We'll find them hella easy."

"Hella easy. But only if you're actually awake enough to find them."

I blink. "What?"

"Go to sleep, Chloe."

"Aww... but Moooom." I groan.

Max tries to stop herself laughing, but I can hear it in her voice. "No, Chloe. You need to sleep. Big day tomorrow."

I sigh. "Fiiiine. Night Max. Spoilsport."

"Goodnight, Chloe!" She singsongs, before signing off.

I lay back down on the landing again and stare up at the stars for a while.

Eventually, my ass starts to hurt, so I pull myself to my feet and head inside. The two dumbasses are still passed out on the floor. It's cute as shit. Taylor is drooling on her mattress and Victoria has her arms crossed over her chest so she looks like a fucking vampire.

I step over them and flop onto my bed.

\--

"...loe! Chloe! Wake up! CHLOE!"

I fucking jump awake and almost roll out of bed straight into the blonde stood next to it shaking the shit out of me. I manage to stop myself at the last minute and rub at my eyes, throwing a hella bleary-eyed glare up kinda in her direction. "What?!"

It's Taylor. She points back to my desk. "Uh, Max keeps calling you on your little, um, walkie talkie thing."

I nod and rub at my eyes some more. Taylor rubs the back of her neck, looking hella nervous, then continues. "Uh, she said it was important..."

I glare back up at her again. "Dude, I need a fucking minute." When her face goes hella pale and her mouth drops open slightly, I know I hella need to calm down. My shoulders slump. "Sorry. I really fucking hate mornings."

She nods, then scurries off outside to the balcony, where Victoria is looking out from the top of the tower. They start to chat. I push them out of my brain and head over to my radio. "Hey Maximus. Taylor said you had something important to say?"

She answers immediately. "Yeah, I do. So, I called out for a fire-suppression team and they're flying in today. I managed to get them to let your two blondes hitch a ride when they go back."

I flop down on my bed and peer out the window at the two blondes, still chatting, both hella oblivious to my creepy-ass stare. "Fan-fucking-tastic. It'll be awesome to have my lookout back to myself."

She snorts. "Pfft. I bet you'll miss them really."

I scoff. "Yeah fucking right. After the shit they've pulled?"

She laughs. "Well, nobody ever said you had good taste."

I roll my eyes. Har har, Max. "So, when do they get here?"

Max shuffles some shit around. "Uh... about an hour, I think. I'm not really sure. The phone line isn't working properly yet so I'm not really in the loop right now." She grumbles lightly to herself like that dog from Wacky Races. "Wowzers, the repair guy was useless. He promised someone else would come out to finish the job, but of course that never happened."

I laugh. She's so fucking cute sometimes. "Ok, so where do I need to get the dumbasses to?"

"There's an old Scout Camp south of your lookout. It's signposted, so you won't get lost."

I can hear the smirk in her voice. "Hey, my sense of direction is hella good!"

She snorts. "Whatever you say, Chlo. Just remember to be there when the chopper gets here."

"Will do, Supermax." I hop up and wander over to the kitchen, rifling through the cupboards for some more jerky. It's shit stuff, but I'm hungry. "So, any, like, sights on the way?"

Max shuffles some papers. "Uh, there's Ruby River. And before you ask, no, nobody ever found rubies there. I..." She stops. I can almost hear the little confused frown on her face. "I... I don't actually know where that name came from."

"Wow, Max... You don't know? And you call yourself a firewatcher."

She snorts, hella indignant. "Hey! I AM a firewatcher, thank you very much. And whatever, I can't know everything. Jeez."

I laugh. "Pfft. You spent three fucking days trying to remember the word 'boiling'. It's gonna drive you hella insane 'til you find out."

Max is quiet for a second, then I hear a thud. Max's voice is muffled. "Dogdamnit."

I laugh louder and Victoria looks back into the Lookout, one eyebrow raised. I meet her eye and stick my tongue out. She stares at me for a second, then rolls her eyes and looks back at Taylor, who hasn't stopped chattering the entire time.

"It could be..." Something chimes in the background and Max swears again. "Fuck. I've... I've gotta go, Chloe. Talk to you later."

Huh. Well, that was hella sudden. "Bye Max." I drop the radio back in the little socket thing and head outside. Time to see what the dumbasses are talking about.

\--

thukka-thukka-thukka

I look up to see the helicopter flying over our heads. Fucking finally. I head back into the lookout and pull on my pack and all the other shit I've gotta carry about without thinking, calling out to the others "Hey dumbasses, time to go." I leave the little metal box in one of the drawers.

Taylor looks in at me. "Huh?"

I tighten another strap. "Max called in a Helicopter to pick you two up. They're gonna get you outta here." I smirk. "Or did you not hear the loudass noise?"

Victoria's head shot up. "We're leaving?"

I shrug. "Unless you piss someone off and they throw you out of the helicopter, yeah."

Victoria glares at me and I smirk. "Yeah, you're gonna get to go home. My bosses will probably wanna talk to you about what happened, but yeah. You're gone today."

Taylor steps forward. "What about Courtney? We can't just leave her!" Victoria, after a second, nods and looks over at me expectantly.

I shrug. "We're gonna keep looking for her. But this place is getting hella cramped and you two idiots have fucked up this place enough." Victoria glares at me, but I ignore her and keep talking. "So, leave it to us. We know what we're doing." Sort of.

Taylor's mouth creases up as she thinks. After a couple of seconds, she nods. "Okay. So, we're really leaving?"

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. "Yeah, you're really leaving."

Taylor sighs. "Oh, thank God! I miss my bed so much." She heads inside and starts picking up her stuff.

"Jesus, Taylor." Victoria rolls her shoulders and follows Taylor inside. "I'd think you'd want a fucking shower first."

She shakes her head. "Nope. Bed. When we get home, I'm gonna sleep for an entire week."

Victoria snorts. "Eurgh. Jesus, no. I have to get clean. We've been out here way longer than we were supposed to be. And there's no way I'm getting this gross forest-stink all over my Egyptian Cotton sheets."

They're still bickering when they walk out the door. I top up Turt's food and water, then roll my eyes and follow them out. Fuck, it'll be great to finally get some peace and quiet around here.

\--

Eurgh. 3 months of this cross-country shit and I still hate climbing. Taylor and Victoria do it all without any bitching, which is hella weird. Pretty sure Victoria would find something to bitch about if you saved her life. Probably just that desperate to get outta here.

The path south took us down across a patch of burnt trees. Shit. I pulled out my radio. "Uh, Max? You there?"

"Yep." She answers, popping the p.

Weird... Anyway. "So, we just hit this patch of burnt trees. Is the fire this far over?"

"No, no. That's just a back-burnt patch for the Flapjack Fire. So, if the fire comes this way, it's got nothing to burn."

Huh, that's... weird. "They actually fight fire with fire?"

Victoria rolls her eyes almost audibly. Max and Taylor both laugh. "Yeah, I guess. You can ask the guys in the helicopter if you wanna know more. They're actual firefighters, so this is kinda their jam."

"Their jam?"

"Yeah. Their jam. Like, their thing?" She sounds unsure. "Am I using that right?"

I shrug. "I have no fucking clue, dude. You say the weirdest shit, sometimes."

"That's so rude. Like, wowzers, Chloe." I can practically hear the fucking smirk.

I laugh. "Thanks Max. We'd better get moving. Talk to ya later."

I stow the radio at my belt again and we keep going through... I check my map. Cottonwood Creek? Seriously? Wowzers...

Oh shit, I can't fucking believe I just said that. Kill me now.

We hop the river and keep going on.

"Uh, Chloe?" Taylor's voice pulls me out of my suffering and I look over. She's staring at this muddy pool with, I kid you not, two fucking jet-skis floating in the middle of it.

I... what? "Uh, Max?"

"Chloe! It's been so long, how are you?"

I snort. Funny. I know I call a lot, but... "Ha ha. Wise-ass."

"The wisest. So, what can I do for you now? Found the snowmobiles?"

"Shit, is that what those things are?" I rub the back of my neck. "I thought they were jet-skis. How'd you know?"

"Uh..." Her voice is hella 'duh, dumbass'. "Because I know where you're going? It's on your map."

"It's on the map?" It wasn't. "Ok then, what's this place called?"

"Pork Pond." She answers immediately. Ok, maybe it was on my map. How was I supposed to know what this place was called? I couldn't see 'jet-ski puddle' on there, so...

"Shouldn't there be a sign or something? Cotton-whatever creek back there had a sign."

"Cottonwood Creek." Max pauses. "And, uh, yeah! There was a sign. But people kept stealing it."

I rolled my eyes as Victoria snorted behind me. "Seriously? Just 'cause it's fucking called Pork Pond!"

"Hey, it's a dogdamn good name! That sign would look great in a den." She pauses. "Or, y'know, anywhere..." She trails off, then coughs. "Anyway, shouldn't you be going? I can hear that chopper from all the way over here."

I laugh. Never fucking change, Maxie.

We head past the pond and off towards this pile of rocks, following the path to the scout camp. That's when I get my first look at the chopper flying over the trees. It's pretty big. That wasn't really that surprising, I mean, it'd have to be, right? To be a rescue helicopter? Be kind of shit to turn up to help people and find out you can't fit them all on.

Suddenly, a scream echoes through the forest around us. We all look up to see what the fuck is making all that noise.

Something hella fast launches from one of the trees and lands on the side of the helicopter. It starts to spin, faster and faster and I swear, using mostly words I learnt from Max, and watch as the helicopter gets dragged out of the fucking sky until it hits the ground with a hella loud explosion.

I run forward first, not even thinking about the two dumbasses as I charge forward. I have no idea what the fuck I'm doing. The helicopter exploded, what am I gonna do? There's no way anyone survived that, right? But I keep fucking running, my lungs burning and my heart pounding, until I get to the crash site.

\--

Turns out that when Helicopters explode, they really explode. I had to stop before reaching the clearing where the helicopter had crashed because everything was on fucking fire!

(AN: Cool Helicopter Fact, did you know that the entire rotor assembly is held to the main body of the helicopter by a single nut? If that nut falls off, the blades will detach from the helicopter. It's called a 'Jesus Nut' because if it falls off, all you can do is pray to Jesus. Americans. You do come up with the most charming names.)

Huh. We are pretty bad for this forest. I mean, I've been here three months and we've had three fucking fires. The Flapjack Fire, the one the poachers set, and now this one. As Max would say, Wowzers. That thought runs over and over in my head as I push into the clearing, trying to find any survivors. "Hey! Anyone?! Are you..."

I catch someone coughing hella hard and charge towards them. Everything around me is burning and smoke is pouring into my fucking lungs, but I manage to keep going until my foot slams into something that my hella advanced fire-watcher training tells me is a person.

The loud swearing helped too. I look down and, there's a guy flailing about on the ground and coughing even harder than I am. I loop my arms under his shoulders and drag him outta the clearing.

The two dumbasses are still hanging around at the edge of the clearing when I just appear out of the smoke and shove a coughing dude at them. "Get him back to the pond!" And then I turn and run back in. This time, I head straight for the chopper.

The windshield, weirdly, is still in one piece, but it's covered in cracks and blood. It looks like the pilot's head slammed into it in the crash. I swallow down the vomit and keep looking, concentrating on finding anyone still alive.

I don't.

I turn and head back to the pond. The smoke and fire is pretty heavy now, and I can barely see a foot in front of my face, but I manage to keep myself going in the right direction pretty well. That's when I run into someone, who squeaks and flails back away from me. I hold my hands and yell out "It's okay! It's okay! I'm just here to help!"

Whoever it is reaches forward and grabs onto my arm, pulling me closer to them. They start to yell in my ear, but end up coughing so much I only understand a couple of works. "Helicopter... Engine... Gas... Run!"

That's all I need to hear. I loop my arm under the person's shoulders and we run as fast as we can for the Pond.

We hit the edge of the clearing just as the helicopter explodes. I can feel the fucking heat on my back as we run. We're not in range of it, but it still knocks us both over. We're so fucking lucky the metal shit from the helicopter didn't hit us. Still feels like someone threw a radiator at me though.

Oh, fuuuck, my head is killing me. I rolled over and tried to pull myself up, but the ringing in my ears and the fact the woods kept spinning round made that hella impossible. I blink hard a few times, trying to make everything stop spinning, but round and fucking round it goes.

A blonde girl appears in front of me, and it's not one of the dumbasses, so it's gotta be whoever I pulled outta the clearing. Huh.

She looks down at me. "Are you okay? Can you walk?"

I blink up at her for a second, trying to focus on her and ignore the ringing in my ears, then nod hurriedly. "Y-yeah. I think so, anyway."

She pulls me to my feet and loops her arm under my shoulders. "Okay then, where to?"

I wave vaguely toward pork pond. "That way."

She nods and we head off. It's way more comfortable than before. She's shorter than me, so she doesn't have to bend to put her arm under my shoulders. She talks the whole time we're walking. I don't hear a fucking word of it though. My head is still spinning as much as the trees are.

We reach the pond hella quickly, spotting the dumbasses sitting next to the guy a short distance away from it. They immediately jump up when they see us. "Chloe! What the fuck happened?"

"Not now, okay? I need to sit the fuck down for a sec or I'm just gonna fall down." The girl next to me helps me to sit down next to the guy. I nod up at her. "Thanks."

She snorts. "I think I should be saying that to you." She walks over to the guy and bends down to check on him.

My head is feeling hella clearer now, so I take my first good look at her. The first thing I notice is her hair. She's blonde too. Great, more of them. Huh. Her eyes kinda remind me of Rachel...

A hella hard poke to my side makes me focus on the other blonde next to me. "What?"

Taylor blinks. "Sorry, you were just getting kind of..." She sighs. "Sorry, Chloe."

I scowl and look back at the new blonde, who's looking at both of us with a smirk on her face. "So, you're Chloe."

I nod. "Yup. And these are the dumbasses." I wave my hand at Taylor and Victoria, who both scowl at me. I grin. "Taylor. Vicky."

Victoria glares at me. "Victoria. Not Vicky." She smiles politely at the new girl.

The new girl watches the entire thing. When we all look at her, she blinks a few times and shakes her head. "Oooo-kay. I'm Sam." She pats the guy on the chest. "This is Mike." The guy's passed out now, but he grunts when she pats him.

"Okay, cool. Now we all know each other's names, we gotta get out of here. That fire is gonna spread and I've gotta let my boss know."

Sam nods. "Okay, okay. I'm going to need your help lifting Mike though. He's kind of..." She thinks for a second. "Heavy."

I take one shoulder, she takes the other, and we lead the dumbasses back to the Lookout.

\--

Mike stays out of it the entire trip there. I'm kind of worried. I mean, he could've hit his head in the crash or something, right? I know being unconscious for this long is a hella bad sign. I'm pretty sure I should be thinking about whatever the fuck pulled a fucking helicopter outta the sky, but one thing at a time, right?

Sam and I manage to lug the dude up the stairs to my lookout. He was seriously fucking heavy. Not fat or anything, just muscled as shit. We manoeuvre him over to my bed and dump him down there.

Wait. Is that..? I pull the guy's jacket down and... oh fuck. "Sam? He's bleeding, like, a hella lot."

"He's what?" She appears at my shoulder and looks down at where I've pulled the jacket back. "Oh... oh god, Mike. We have to get that jacket off." Between us, we manage to get his jacket off without hurting him much.

There's a bunch of cuts all over his back. Nothing big, but there's a hella lot of them. Some of the cuts have bits of metal or glass sticking in them. He's got a few burns mixed in too, just to make that shit hurt even more.

Sam hisses when she sees it. "This is really bad. We need to, like, get him to a hospital as fast as possible."

"Right." I nod. "I'll call my boss, get her to call someone in."

She nods back. "Okay, that works. Um, thanks again."

I shrug. "Helping people who get into shit in the woods is kind of my job." I think. I'm not really sure what my job is anymore. I pull out my radio, then sigh when I see the snapped antenna and cracked handset. Fuuuck. I toss it into the trash and go hunting for the spare.

Takes me a couple minutes to find where the hell I put it, but it's luckily it's fully charged. I push the button and open my mouth to talk when "-ucking god, Chloe! Are you okay? Answer me, dogdamnit! Wowzers, you better tell if you're alive right now so I can kill you myself for making me worry this damn fucking much!"

Everyone in the lookout is staring at me now. I shrug. "That's my boss. She, um... she worries."

I push to talk. "Uh, hey Max."

"Chloe! Finally!" She spends about a minute just swearing at me, then trails off. "I was so worried, Chloe, what the hell happened? I heard the explosion from here!"

I tell her quickly what happened, leaving the cause of the crash out of it. Sam twitches slightly and I can tell she's listening. Like, intently. She's paying more attention to me than Mike, anyway. "Uh, okay. Mike sounds like he's in bad shape."

Sounds like? Sounds like?! "He's in hella bad shape, okay Max? You've gotta call someone to come get him!"

"I will, but the nearest hospital is an hour's flight away. You need to see to him now or he'll bleed out before they even get here. Um, give me a minute." Sam's jaw tightens when she hears Max, but she doesn't say anything.

Max rolls her chair back and gets up, walking around in her lookout. I can hear her looking through some papers. "Okay, I think there should be some medical supplies in a ranger station over by the path to the trailhead. I'm not sure though, it might not've been resupplied yet. It's the best I can do for now though."

Sam and I look at each other and shrug. Like she said, it's the best we've got. "Okay. Thanks, Max. My map doesn't go that far, so you're gonna have to tell me where to go."

"Alright. Anything I can do to help. Just let me know when you're on the trail out."

"Okay. Talk to you then, Max."

I hang up the radio and put it on my belt. Sucks that I'm stuck with just the one now. If I wreck this, I'm fucked. I wouldn't be able to talk to Max anymore... Okay, shit to do, Chloe, you can be all melancholy and shit later. "Right, I know what I'm doing, what about you guys?"

Sam stands up from where she was kneeling by the bed. "If it's okay, I'd like to stay with Mike. Someone should be here to make sure he's stable."

I shrug. "Okay then. What about you two?"

"Um, I think we'd like to stay here, maybe?" Taylor offers.

Victoria snorts. "Speak for yourself, Tayls. Chloe's right, this place is getting way too crowded." She walks over to me. "I'll go with you. Taylor, you can stay and help this new chick keep the guy alive."

Taylor blinks at the hella sudden change in plan, then shrugs. "Okay, Vic. Good luck."

Victoria nods, then turns to me. "Well? Are we gonna go, or what?" When I just stand there, she pushes past me with a snort and heads outside. I laugh, then follow her out.

\--

"Hey, dumbass! Wait up!"

She immediately whirls on me with a growl. "What the fuck did I say about calling us that?"

I put up my hands like I'm surrendering and grin. "Sorry, Victoria." I say, mockingly. "But seriously, wait up. I'm the one with the gun here."

She stops, frowns, then nods. "Good point. You go first." She steps back and lets me take the lead.

We head down from the lookout, and back along the path I took to get here from the trailhead. I look up when we reach the end of the map. "Right." I pull out my radio. "Hey. Max? We're there. Help."

She answers the radio with a snort. "What's the magic woo-oord?" She singsongs.

"Abracadabra? Alakazam? Fobbledibblewobblethworble?"

"Har har. No, you've gotta say it!"

"Jesus christ." Victoria scowls at me. "If you two are done being sickening, there is a guy bleeding to death back there."

Good point. "Okay, Max, where do we go?"

"Uh, um. Yes. Sorry." She rattles off a few directions. "Head down the path until you find that big forked tree. Um, there should be a way to the left for you to go. Not a trail, just a clear path through the forest. I think it's a left, but it might be a right, you're looking to try get into a gully. There should be a rope to climb at the end."

"Right. And that's where the Ranger Station is?"

"No, not quite. But I know you, you'll forget any more directions I give you, so call me when you get there. I gotta go."

I frown. "What, bored of me already, Max?"

"No, but I've kind of got a hospital helicopter to call in. Talk to you soon, Chlo."

"Right." I put the radio back on my belt and turn to Victoria. "Come on. We're heading this way." I walk past her down the trail.

We find the tree pretty quickly and turn off onto the path without either of us talking. It was so fucking nice. Shit has been hella loud for the last couple of days. We take a left and find the gully Max pointed out, and find the rope after poking around for a couple of minutes.

I walk over to start climbing, when Victoria suddenly breaks the hella blissful silence. "You saw it, didn't you?" I stop. "Whatever that... Jesus, whatever that thing was that took the helicopter down."

I play dumb, crossing my arms and throwing her my blankest look. "I didn't see shit, Vicky. What are you talking about?"

She frowns at me, then leans back against a tree. It bends a little under her weight. "There was something... it just jumped from a tree and grabbed onto the helicopter." Her frown turns into a scowl. "You had to have seen that. How could you have not seen that?"

I shrug. "Maybe you're just seeing shit, Vicky. I didn't see anything."

"Bullshit. You've been acting weird since it happened. You saw it." She says it like there's no question to it, and I know she's not buying my bullshit anymore. Aww. And I was hella looking forward to yanking her chain for a bit longer. That shit sucks.

"Yeah, I did. I don't know what it was though. That thing was insanely fucking fast."

"So, um..." Her voice goes quiet, hella tentative. Like she doesn't wanna ask something, but knows she's gonna ask it anyway. "Was it... real? Like, really real?"

I shrug. "No idea."

"How can you be so fucking calm about this? That thing was terrifying. Shit, imagine if it came after you..."

I scoff. "Relax! We'd be fucking dead before we even realised it was after us, so what's the point in worrying about that shit? We gotta get that Mike dude back up on his feet first." I smile to myself, but keep my face and voice as bitchy and condescending as possible. "I mean, if you feel up to it, right? I know it's scary and you're probably not used to this shit, but it's gotta get done. Or are you just gonna give up and lose?"

I start to clip on my rope when Victoria pushes past me, clip on herself and starts climbing, grumbling the entire fucking time. "-onna show you giving up, you fucking bitch, telling me to give up, fucking shithead."

I am a terrible fucking person...

Heh.

I clip on and climb up after her.

\--

When we get up there, I call Max again, and she gives us a bunch more directions. We follow them and end up getting hella far from the trail. Takes like twenty minutes of walking until we find it.

There's a squat wooden building tucked behind a clump of trees. It's so well disguised we almost fucking miss the thing, but Victoria somehow noticed it before I did. We head over and peek in through the window.

It's hella dark inside and I can barely see anything, but I spot one of those metal fireplace things and a few shelves of shit, so I guess we're in the right place. I walk around and try the door.

Fuck. Locked.

Victoria appears at my shoulder. "Can we get in?"

"No, the fucker's locked."

"Damn." She frowns. "So, how do we get in, then? I'd say smash a window but I really don't want your boss to be pissed off with me."

I shrug, "

Okay, we're in! Now, where would they put their medical shit? I look around for that red cross thing, but of course they didn't make it that fucking easy.

I did find a lot of other stuff though. This place was definitely restocked. They'd got cans of food, mostly prunes and beef jerky un-fucking-fortunately, a bunch of backpacks and survival gear, a whole shelf of insect repellent, and all kinds of other stuff. They even had a couple of hunting rifles propped up against one wall. That made me frown. I thought hunting was illegal here? I'll have to ask Max when we get Mike back up on his feet. Priorities, right?

Eventually, I give up searching just random spots out in the open and start opening boxes. There's a couple of crates with more flares in them, plus a footlocker hidden in a corner behind a bunch of rakes and sacks and shit.

I pop it open and... Awesomesauce!

I laugh as I pull the huge first aid kit out of the locker. "Supplies, Motherfucker."

Victoria snorts. "You fucking nerd."

I shrug. "Hey, you got the reference. You're as much of a nerd as me."

Her snort turns into a scowl. I grin and she whirls around and starts searching through the shelves. I take one of the backpacks and throw it to Victoria. "Here. Stick whatever you got in here and we'll head back."

She nods and starts collecting stuff together. I look back at the locker for more medical shit. I know the basics, but I dunno what'll be useful for cuts and burns, so I just take everything.

When we're both done, we head back out.


	11. Out of Contact

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, Fan-fic-folks!
> 
> Oh for fecks sake, I've done it again. I honestly thought I'd updated this on Tuesday. As always, much apologies, such regret. It's times like these when I really start to detest my frenetic scatterbrained-ness.
> 
> Thanks for reading and, as always, please review.

I toss Sam the backpack as we walk in. "Here's everything we could find."

She catches it, then starts rifling through it. Her face lights up. "Thanks, Chloe! This is great." She immediately takes the bag over to the side and starts pulling shit out and organising it into piles on the counter.

Taylor and Victoria are sat together on the floor by my desk, Victoria leaning her head on Taylor's shoulder. Neither of them are talking.

Mike is still hella out of it on my bed.

I amble over to my desk and flop down into my chair. Ugh. I was supposed to get my lookout back today, now it's even more fucking crowded than it was yesterday. I came out here to get away from people, dammit. I lean back in the chair and close my eyes, listening to Sam do her thing until "Hey, can we talk? In private?"

Max sounds... worried. I immediately sit up in my chair. "Okay. Gimme a sec."

I head outside and lean on the railing. Nobody reacts to me moving at all. "I'm alone, Max. What's up?"

She almost growls into the phone. "The phones are fucking down again..."

"What? Are you fucking serious? How?"

"I have no idea. I can't call the hospital, I can't call anyone to help, I can't do fucking anything!" She slams her fist into something on the last word hard enough that I can hear the thunk.

Fuuuuuck. Come on, Price. Think. "Okay, okay. We've got to get them back up. Right?"

She takes a deep breath. "Right."

She doesn't continue.

"Soooo..? What do we do?"

"I have no fucking clue. You're going to have to repair it yourselves. There's nobody in the area and there won't be for another... wowzers, another two weeks."

"Us? I don't know about you, Max, but I kinda skipped Phone Repair 101 and I don't think the dumbasses could repair a broken twig."

Max is quiet for a while then, in a hella small voice, says "If you can't... Mike is gonna die."

Well shit.

\--

I walk back in, my hands in my pockets, not really looking at anyone. "Sooooooooooo..."

Nobody looks up.

I say it a little louder. "Soooooooooo..."

I take a deep breath in and start to say it again when Taylor and Victoria look foggily up at me. Sam is still tending to that Mike dude. I stop and think for a second how to say this. Then, I decide just to say it. No point beating around the bush, right? "The phone is fucked."

Taylor throws up a hand, like she's in a fucking classroom. I blink at her for a sec, then ask "Yeah, Taylor?"

"It wasn't us this time." She looks up at me, eyes hella earnest.

I roll my eyes. "I know, Dumbass. Unless you're the freaking Flash or something, you've literally not been out of my sight for like, two days."

Taylor tilts her head, then grins. "Good point."

That... weirdness over, I continue "There's no-one around Max can radio to come repair it, and she can't call anyone because, y'know, the phones are down, so we're gonna have to do it ourselves."

"Ourselves?" Victoria gives me her best 'you're a fucking idiot' stare. It's pretty good. "Jesus, we don't know how to repair a fucking phone line, Chloe. How the hell are we supposed to do this ourselves? We don't have... like, tools, or anything."

Sam chips in while doing something to Mike with the medical stuff. "If you want tools, we had some in the helicopter. They might be helpful for repairs."

Wait, what? They did? I turn to look at her. "You guys had tools in the helicopter? I thought you guys were, like, just pilots or something?"

She looks back over her shoulder at me. "No, we're firefighters. We were here to help deal with... the fire. Ian, the pilot, died in the crash. He was supposed to drop us off, then take the two girls back to the trailhead." She checks her watch. "They won't even know we're running late for another half a day."

She lists off a shitload of tools, most of which I've never even heard of. I grin. "That should work. Do you have any idea how to repair a phone line?"

"None at all." She grins. "I could give it a try though."

I shrug. "Good enough for me. Tell these two how to keep Mike going, and we'll head out." I don't wait for her to say anything, I just turn around and start grabbing my shit. Backpack, gun, knife, bear spray.

She looks at the gun, but doesn't say anything. After a second, she sighs. "Let's just get going."

I shrug, "Okay" and we head out.

\--

We down through Cottonwood Creek, past Pork Pond, toward the crash site. "So, what happened?" I ask.

"What?" She looks over at me and frowns.

"On the helicopter? What caused the crash?"

She hesitates. It's not even for a second, but it's just enough that I pick up on it and I know she's about to try bullshit me. "I... I don't know. One minute, we were talking, the next, we were falling and the pilot was yelling about something going wrong."

"That's it? Just... something went wrong and then everything went to shit?" I try to sound more curious than accusing. No point pissing off the only other person who actually knows how to do shit. Especially since this fucking forest is apparently full of monsters or something.

She shrugs. "Yes." She frowns again. "Why?"

I match her shrug. "Just nosy. Max is hella nosy and now we spent a shitload of time together, I'm kinda nosy too."

She laughs. "Okay, then. Let's get going." She keeps walking. I watch her for a second, then follow.

We finally walk up to the crash site and, no surprise, it's still on fire. Luckily, the trees here were kind of isolated, so the fire never spread and the rest of the forest looks okay. Only a few of the trees are still actually burning though. Most are black and charred or just piles of ash.

Sam just stares at the destruction. I walk past her and start to make my way through the ruined forest. She follows me, catching up hella quickly until she's next to me.

Ugh. There's so much fucking ash everywhere. It's like sand, or dust. Ugh. I fucking hate sand, dust, and now ash too. When I lose my footing and slip on some, ending up on my ass and sending a cloud of the stuff up in the air, I swear as loud as I can in frustration. I really, really hate falling over. "Fucking Ash!" I splutter out, coughing as the ash starts to settle again.

Sam's head snaps up to look at me, then she shakes her head and hurries over. "Come on, Chloe. We have to hurry up." She pulls me up then starts heading towards the chopper again.

We leap over a few fallen logs, shimmy around a few that're still standing up, getting right to the fucked-up husk of the helicopter. The windshield is still covered in blood, and I'm pretty sure a burning tree or something fell on it, 'cause there's a shitload of ash all over the side of it. The back of the helicopter is just gone. I'm pretty sure that was where the engine was, y'know, before it exploded.

Sam hurries over and tries to pull open one of the side-doors, but hisses and jumps back. "Ow!"

"What?"

"I burnt myself on the freaking door! Ow!" She waves her hand frantically through the air a couple times, then sticks it in her mouth. She nods. "mmm-okay. 'o g't the 'ools!"

Weirdly, I understood that.

I walk past her to the big hole in the back of the helicopter and peer in. Huh. The entire thing was open, straight to the cabin. I caught a hella brief glance at the messy shit in the cockpit and looked away, focusing hella hard on not thinking about it. I call back to Sam, "Hey, Sam? We can get in through here." and crawl in.

The place is a mess, and that's me saying it. Stuff was scattered everywhere, there was blood all over one wall, and a... oh, fuck. I swallowed back the vomit, trying not to look at the mangled, fucked-up corpse in the cockpit. "Oh, god..." Sam's voice comes from behind me. "Ian..."

I turn around, knowing exactly what I'd see. Sam is just staring past me at the body.

I walk over, put my hand on her shoulder. "I, um... Sorry."

She nods again, then goes quiet.

I take my hand away after a couple of seconds, then go back to searching. The quicker we get out of here, the fucking better. After a few minutes of searching, I move to another footlocker. Still no tools. I do find a flamethrower though. And a couple of pistols. What kind of Firemen are these people? "Are you sure you had tools here?"

She nods. "Yes. Mike had a duffle..."

A Duffle? I scan the cabin for one. No fucking luck. "Are you sure? It's not..."

Oh. I look back at the cockpit. It's gotta be... Oh fuck. This is gonna be really fucking bad. The smell of iron hits me the minute I walk in. I turn the pilot around in his seat so he's facing the window again. It doesn't help much.

I look under his seat and spot it, tucked into a corner. The pilot... Ian's foot is tangled up in the handles. Oh, fucking... I swear under my breath, then scramble under the chair, trying really fucking hard not to think about the dead guy up there.

I grab onto the handle of the bag and yank it. It comes out of the corner pretty easily, but so does the foot. "Ew. Ew. Ew ew ew ew ew ew ewewewewewewewewewww" I mutter as I untangle the foot. The guy's skin is cold to the touch and it's like trying to move those store mannekin things. Which me and Rach actually did once. It was hella fucking funny. The store people tried chasing us out, but we were both hella fast.

The memory helps me not think about the fact I'm yanking a dead guy's foot out of a bag of tools so that we can repair a phone line and call for help before another guy dies.

When it's done, I stand up and I get the fuck out of there, making a note to talk to my therapist about it later. When I remember I don't have a therapist, I add 'get a fucking therapist' to my to-do list. After what I just did, I'm gonna fucking need one.

I grab Sam's arm and pull her out of the helicopter. "Come on. We've gotta get going, right?"

She follows me quietly back out of the clearing, past the pond, past cotton-whatever creek, past the lookout, and up to the phone line.

\--

We follow the line of poles going up the hill, past where I found Turt, past where the dumbasses left their underwear and...

"Oh..." Sam breathes out next to me. That's the first time she's talked since the helicopter.

We aren't gonna be able to fix this shit. This is really fucking bad. An entire line of the poles holding the lines up had been knocked down, and like half of them had been broken in half. The lines had snapped, too.

Still staring at the lines, I pull out my radio. "Max?"

"Yes? Are you there? What's it look like?"

I stare at the line of fallen poles and torn lines. "Bad. I don't think we're gonna be able to fix this shit."

"Fuck."

"Yep. So, what do we do now?"

When she doesn't respond, I find myself shouting. Just, all the fucking frustration and shitty luck of the last couple of days had finally gotten to me and I was pissed. Max was the expert ranger, right? She was supposed to have all the answers! "Come on, Max! What the fuck do we do now What's your plan B?"

"There was no plan B, Chloe!" Max yells. "This was plan A, B, C all the way to fucking Z!" She bites back whatever she was gonna say next and sighs. "Damnit. There's nothing else we can do."

Sam's shoulders slump. I put my hand on her shoulder again and she shrugs it off. "It's... it's okay. These things happen."

"Yeah." I say, thinking of Rach. "Yeah, they do. And it fucking sucks."

She takes a deep breath, then lets it out hella slowly. "It really does. Come on, we'd better get back."

I blink as she walks past me. Wow, um, okay. I quickly hurry to catch up to her. "Are you... okay?" I offer, knowing exactly how fucking stupid it sounds. I really suck at this stuff.

She nods. "I'm okay. This isn't the first time I've come close to losing a friend." She shrugs dismissively. "We're in a dangerous line of work. I'm sure I'll have a breakdown in a couple of days, but right now I need to keep it together. Thanks for the concern though."

"Okay. Um..." I really have no idea what to say to that. "Good, I guess. So, what are we gonna do now?"

She grins at me, face hella full of confidence, and it reminds me so much of Rach I have to swallow a fucking sob. "We're gonna go back, and we're gonna find a plan B."

She leads the way back.

\--


	12. #Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, Fan-fic-folks!
> 
> Ok, so, first things first, I have now officially moved update day to Wednesday. I ended up updating on Wednesday most weeks anyway, so I figured I might as well make it on purpose.
> 
> News item two, I'm going to be out of the country for the last two weeks of August. The mental health charity I volunteer with is doing a new project and we get to travel around and consult with a few groups in other countries. I'm also back at Uni in September, so there's gonna be a long hiatus after the 17th of August until late September, because I know from experience that between volunteering and Uni work I'm going to have little time to write. I will do my utmost to do so, but I won't make another promise to y'all because the universe seems to delight in making me unable to keep those.
> 
> I'm going to be writing as much as I can this week to try get as much up as I can next Wednesday to keep ya going in the interim. :)
> 
> Sorry this is only a short one. I've a big sequence in mind for the next one and I needed to cap this off quick so I didn't intrude into that.
> 
> Thanks for reading and, as always, please review.

It's hella dark by the time we make it back.

Neither of us talked the entire time.

I couldn't get my mind off the pilot, Ian. I hadn't seen anyone that... fucked up before. So, I tried to focus on Sam. She was striding confidently the whole fucking time. I couldn't tell if she was actually confident or just bullshitting, but either way it was weirdly comforting to see.

When we got in, both the dumbasses looked up at us hopefully. I shook my head and they both immediately slouched, looking anywhere in the room but at us or Mike. Victoria takes a deep breath. "I... I'm sorry, Sam."

She shrugs. "It's okay. We can work something else out. There's always something else we can do."

I slouch into my chair. "Like what?"

"Well..." She thinks for a second. "What about Max? Is there a phone-line in her territory?"

"I have no fucking idea. One sec." I pull out the radio. "Hey Maxie?"

"Yeah, Chloe?" Her voice sounds hella gravelly. She's definitely still pissed off.

"Is there a phone line on your land we could use instead?"

She scoffs. "Oh yeah, I totally forgot about..." She sighs. "No, Chloe. Why would I have sent you to fix your phone line if I had one we could fucking use?!" I flinch a little as she roars at me through the radio. "No, Chloe. There's no fucking way to communicate with anyone except the radios, and those are too short range to be of any fucking use!"

I look up at Sam. "Uh. Max says there's no other phone lines."

"Was there a radio in the helicopter? Those might be, like, longer range?"

"There was, it broke in the crash." She shrugs. "It's not going to work."

"Fuck."

We go round and round, bickering and throwing out whatever ideas we can think of.

None of them would work.

After a couple of hours, I snap. "Look, Sam! There's nothing we can do. It's time to just... I dunno, accept the fucking inevitable!

"Ned..." What..? Wait. We all turn to look at Mike, lying there in my bed. His eyes are open! His eyes are fucking open!

"Why... n-not see..." He coughs, ugly, hella reedy sounds that send weird little twinges up my spine when I hear them. "Ned?"

He falls into another racking coughing fit, then passes out.

Well. Weird. That was a convenient fucking revelation... Shit, if my life was a movie, I'd make a joke about Deus Ex Machina. Convenient plot moving bullshit...

We all turn to look at Sam. "Who's Ned?"

She looks to each of us, one by one, then slumps down on the bed next to Mike. "Damnit. I was hoping it wouldn't come to this. Ned is... a hermit living out here."

Wait.

"We drop him supplies sometimes," She continues. "Food, Water, Parts. He's good with technology, he might be able to help with the radio."

Ned...

Max mentioned a Ned. I hold up a hand. "Ned Goodwin? Used to be a firewatcher here?"

She blinks and her mouth drops open. "You... you know him?"

I shake my head. "Nope. But Max does."

She pulls her back straighter and takes a deep breath in. "Well, okay then. So, um... there's one problem with talking to him. He doesn't really like strangers."

I shrug. "So go get him, bring him back here. It's not fucking rocket science."

She shakes her head. "He won't come here. We're going to need to go to him." She doesn't say why.

"Okay... So..?"

"We're going to need to bring Mike."

\--

"She knows him?" Max sounds as suspicious as I am.

"Yeah, apparently." I stare off at the gap in the trees Sam had disappeared through. "They like, drop-off supplies and shit to him or something."

"Huh." Max thinks for a second.

Victoria immediately jumps in to the silence. "She's definitely not telling us everything."

I just look at her. "No shit, Vicky."

"For fucks sake Chloe, how many times do I have to tell you to call me by my fucking name?"

I grin. "At least one more, I guess."

She harrumphs, tossing her head and looking away from all of us. Taylor is sitting next to Mike, her arms wrapped around her knees, just staring at him. Moving him was hella fucking hard. I'm honestly surprised we managed not to tear any of his stitches.

"I wonder what happened. Why did they leave the lookout for... out here?"

"I dunno, Maxie. Guess we can ask him when Sam brings him back."

She doesn't respond.

The forest around us is starting to get hella dark now. We need to get a fire going. "Hey, Victoria, Taylor?"

They both look at me. "Can you go get some twigs and rocks and shit? I wanna build a fire, so we don't freeze to death. Or get stuck in the dark." When Victoria opens her mouth to complain, I add "It'll help keep away the wolves."

They both pale and nod, skittering off into the forest.

"There was something on the helicopter, Max." I keep my voice quiet, in case Victoria or Taylor are still in earshot.

"What?"

"When they were flying over. Something jumped out of the trees, pulled it out of the fucking sky."

"Wowzers. Are you... Are you sure? I mean, I'm not a wolf expert or anything, but I'm pretty sure they can't do that."

"Lions can jump 36ft Max. 36ft, Max."

She snorts. "Leap, Chloe. They can leap forward 36ft. They can't jump 36ft in the air, they're not fucking Superman." She pauses. "Also, there are no lions in Wyoming."

"Whatever. What if there's something in here that can?"

"I..." Max trails off. "I don't know, Chloe. Maybe there could be. Just... be safe, okay? If you see those things again, you get the fuck out, then you call me." She pauses for a second. "Remember that old joke about the two guys running from the bear?"

"I... I don't actually know that one."

"Okay, so. Two guys piss off a bear while camping in the woods. So the bear chases them. Bears run pretty fast, so they're having to work pretty hard to keep ahead of it. After a while, one guy starts to lose hope. 'We're never gonna outrun this bear', he says. His buddy replies, 'I don't have to outrun the bear. I just have to outrun you.'"

I laugh. "Man, that's fucking cold, Maxie. You want me to leave the dumbasses?"

"Well, if they can't run as fast as you, that's just the way the cookie crumbles."

I roll my eyes. "No thanks, Bruce. I... I actually like the dumbasses. I'm not gonna leave 'em. That'd just be mean to that poor bear. Imagine trying to eat someone who's criticising your taste the entire fucking time."

"Ugh, brown?" Max scoffs. "Brown is so last season. Who wears brown these days, you unfashionable ursine?!"

It's a surprisingly good impression of Victoria.

 

We both giggle.


	13. Totally Last Minute Bullshit Titles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN:  
> Hey there, Fan-fic-folks!
> 
> First news, this is gonna be my last definite update for about 6-7 weeks. I mentioned last week that I'm gonna be abroad for about a fortnight (Two weeks) with the mental health charity I volunteer for to work on a project/campaign with a few groups in different countries who seem to have their mental health education/provision far more together than we in the UK do. It's a British Tradition, after all. Visiting other cultures, kicking them in the nads, then stealing their ideas/lands/foodstuffs/random verbiage and making our own version of them. Hopefully we won't have to kick any of the groups we're visiting in the nads, but hey, it's a perfectly viable plan B. :D But yes, I'll be away for two weeks with no wifi and, when I get back, I'll be heading to Uni so I'll have barely any time to write then either. I might get something written, but it's not likely and we all know how well my promises of getting shit done have gone in the past so I ain't gonna make one this time. :)
> 
> I... really don't know why I titled that first news. It's really my only news. I think I have a numbering problem...
> 
> Anyways, I know I promised a long sequence, but I'm leaving for the airport in five minutes and I hadn't finished the rest of it, so this is all you get. :) Sorry.
> 
> Oh, and the hardest part of writing this chapter was trying to remember how the fuck to spell 'broccoli'. Kept spelling it 'Bark-o-ley'. (Kudos if you get that reference, btw. :D). All jokes aside, it did actually take me a while to remember I was sat at a computer with an internet connection and that I could freaking google it. Egad, me. Egad.
> 
> Thanks for reading and, as always, please review.

"Ugh, no, you're doing that hella wrong. Like this..." I took Victoria's weird Hunting Cabin of big-ass logs off the fire pit and put them off to the side somewhere. I took a bunch of the little twigs and sticks and shit and started stacking them up around the pile of leaves and grass and bark we'd made. "You're just gonna crush the shit outta whatever flame you actually get with those big logs. You put those..." When the twig teepee was finished, I put some of the bigger logs on it. "On at the end, then stick 'em in whenever the fire goes down."

Victoria, obviously, glares at me the entire time I'm talking. "Jesus, you sound like the fucking briefing bitch." Taylor, on the other hand, is watching every fucking move I make and nodding. Good to know one of the dumbasses is paying attention.

I grin. "Yeah, and you obviously didn't listen to her, either." I point at the kindling in the middle of the teepee. "Stick the lighter in there, get that shit going before we fucking freeze to death."

Victoria grumbles, but she takes the lighter and lights the fire. We all watch quietly as the flame builds up, engulfing the kindling and the little twigs, then starting on the bigger logs.

I just stare at the fire, thinking back to the last time I'd sat staring at one... with Max.

A groan from Mike pulls me outta it, and I look over to see Taylor crouched over the guy, poking at the bandages. "I hope she comes back soon. I... I don't think he's gonna last much longer."

"Shit." He's bleeding. Like, a lot. Ohshitohshitohshitohshit. I scramble over to him, grabbing the backpack of medical shit on my way over and dropping it next to him.

Okay, so...

Come on, Price. You can do this.

I take a bunch of rags and a roll of what I'm pretty sure is gauze from the bag then I set to work patching the guy up again. It, uh... It wasn't fun. Blood is hella gross. I have no fucking idea how doctors do this shit every day. But I get the bleeding stopped, I think, and Mike seems mostly comfortable.

After a bit of bitching from the dumbasses, I go back over to the fire and sit down to wait. I really fucking hate waiting, but eh. Fuck it. I close my eyes and feel the warmth of the fire. Before I realise it, I've drifted off to sleep.

In the middle of a forest.

Full of Wolves.

Huh.

I'm a fucking idiot.

"Chloe? Chloe? Wake up, you lazy fuck, we've got company."

I shake myself awake and look up. Victoria was pointing at something in the trees. I follow her finger and... oh, fucking finally! Sam appears in the clearing, followed by... two... dudes. I thought she was just gonna get Ned?

I edge my hand closer to the gun in my pack. "Sam?"

She smiles when she reaches us. "Hi, everyone. This is Ned," She waves at one of the guys. He's tall, and kinda lanky, with grey hair. He's also not looking at any of us. "and this is Matt."

The youngish black dude standing next to her gives us a hella awkward wave. "Hi. I'm Matt."

Taylor grins and sticks up her hand to wave back, but Victoria pulls it down and glares at her. "You said you were bringing Ned. Who the hell is this guy?"

Matt and Sam look at each other, then at Victoria. "I work with Sam. We're firefighters, I guess?" He looks at her. Sam nods, then he looks back at us. "I was in the helicopter when it went down. Ned," He nods back at the old grey-haired guy. "pulled me out, but you guys turned up before he could get everyone else."

He throws us an easy grin. "Glad to see you're all okay. We would've come sooner but..."

Ned finally looks up. "But I don't know any of you, and you," The fucker jabs a finger at me. "have been messing with my shit and stealing my fucking property, so forgive me if I don't immediately trust you like these two."

Wait... I blink for a second, running over what he said a few times, just to be sure. "You're the poacher."

His eyebrows bunch together like rampaging tribbles. "Poacher? What the hell are you talking about?"

I pull out the wave finder thingy and toss it over. He looks down at it, then back up at me. "That thing tracks a shitload of fucking wolves. And you've been sticking them in cages or some shit like that, haven't you?" He blinks at me in confusion. "I heard you on the radio. Having trouble keeping track of your fucking catches?"

He stares at me, then scoffs and shakes his head slowly. "You really don't know, do you?"

"I know enough, asshole."

He laughs at that. "Trust me kid, you really don't." He turns to Sam and Matt. "Get Mike on the stretcher and we'll get him back to the bunker."

Sam and this Matt guy unfold a stretcher and pull Mike onto it. Ned watches them do it, while I sit there quietly trying to work out what the fuck to say to that. When they're done, he stands up and mutters, "Come on." then turns around and heads back the way they came.

I sigh. "Fuck it. Come on, guys."

We follow him.

\--

Ugh. Yep. Blood is gross. Ned is fucking covered in it. I sit, hella uncomfortably, watching him go through every single one of Mike's cuts, clean them, pull the shrapnel and shit out, and then sew them up.

"Would you stop staring at me?" Ned growls, without looking up.

"I, um... Sorry."

He grunts, still not looking up at me. Not that I give a shit or anything. He's got more important things to do.

Kinda dickish though, right?

I hop off the cabinet-table-thing I'm sat on and head off into another part of the cave. Ned's place is pretty big, which is kinda pissing me off. He's got more floor space than I fucking do. How hella unfair is that?

I find Taylor and Victoria sat on a half-log bench talking. "You two okay?"

Victoria shrugs. Taylor sighs. "This is all kind of stressful, y'know?"

"Heh." I grin. "I getcha, Tayls. That fucking beef jerky, right?"

Victoria breaks down in peals of giggles.

She actually fucking giggles.

It's both hella cute and kinda fucking surreal.

Matt and Sam wander over, both grinning. "What's so funny?"

"Beef. Goddamn. Jerky!" Victoria spits out between laughs.

Matt nods sagely. "Oh yeah. I fucking hate the stuff. Sam here," He gestures to her with his thumb as they sit down on a half-log opposite us. "is a vegetarian, so she gets to avoid that horror."

We all look at her enviously.

She laughs. "That's the first time anyone's praised my diet. And I'm vegan, technically."

I grin. "So you're still stuck with prunes, right?"

She snorts. "Nothing wrong with prunes. They're good for you."

I roll my eyes with a groan. "So's broccoli. You don't see me eating that shit."

She gasps. "What's wrong with broccoli?"

I grin.

\--

"So, there we were, three guys, butt-freaking-naked except for a fucking towel each and stuck out in the cold, banging frantically on the locker-room door and ," Matt thumbs over at Sam again. "And then she comes along, takes a look at all of us and says-"

He and Sam chant at the same time. "I think saunas are supposed to be a little hotter than this, guys."

As we're laughing, Ned just... appears in the doorway. Fuck, that asshole moves hella quietly. He's wiping his hands with a rag and I notice he's got his head angled to keep all of us in sight at the same time. "He's stable, for now, but I need some extra supplies. They're stashed in a bolthole past Jonesy Lake."

I raise an eyebrow. "Dude, why the fuck are your supplies that far away?"

"In case anyone found this place. Keeps them safe."

Well. That's... fucking paranoid. But whatever. "So, you want us to go get them?"

He gives me a withering look. "That's what I said."

He doesn't say anything else.

I hop to my feet. "Alright then. Matty-boy, Sammykins, Vicky, Tayls, you're with me.

They all glare soundlessly at me.

Except Matt.

He just nods.

I like Matt.

When they continue not to say anything, I grin. "Great. It's a plan. Come on, y'all. Let's go find us some more medical whatever."

I look back at Ned, who's still stood in the doorway. "Dude. Can you, y'know, move? I'm hella talented, but even I can't walk through people."

He snorts, then walks past me to Sam and Matt and hands them a bag. I barely hear him hiss "Be careful. Remember what's out there" at them.

They follow me out.


	14. Rules of Engagement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter XIV: Rules of Engagement  
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> AN:  
> Hey there, Fan-fic-folks!
> 
> Thinking Firewatch should be done by Chapter 20. I've gotten the next two (not including this one) written, so I'm using this time to try get more time to work on the others (Blackwell Job and the Island) because I've got nothing for them atm. Problems with not planning in advance, or building up a backlog of fics for upload. When writers block hits, I am kinda fucked.
> 
> Also, I adore this Until Dawn Fic. If you're into the fandom at all, definitely check it out. Mack writes Josh really freaking well, and there's a tonne of wit and charm to the story.  
> (http://archiveofourown.org/works/4995502)  
> The Balance Book - coldmackerel
> 
> Thanks for reading and, as always, please review.  
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Whatthefuckwasthat?!" I whirl as something rushes past us through the bushes.

Victoria snorts. "I think it's a raccoon."

"That's no raccoon... It's a wolf!"

Victoria stops and raises an eyebrow at me. "It's too small to be a wolf."

I pause. "Y'know, you make a hella good point. Maybe it's like... a badger."

The entire group stops and simultaneously turns to look at me. Sam raises an eyebrow. "A badger?"

"Yeah! Those fuckers are dangerous." I click my fingers, trying to remember the name of the scary badger things when I remember the scary wolf things wandering around us in the dark and stop. "Honey Badgers! They can, like, bite through a tortoise shell, and they'll fight anything."

Matt is watching me, fucking enthralled, but the others are all staring doubtfully at me. Except Taylor. She just looks terrified. Aww. "Seriously. Those fuckers are mean."

Sam blinks. "Oookay then. Everyone keep an eye out for... badgers."

Good call, Sam. Those fuckers are out there. (AN: Like the Truth.)

We creep forward through the woods, keeping an eye out for... badgers. And wolves. And whatever other shit was out there, looking over at us like prime steak.

I frowned as I wondered what we'd look like to a wolf. I bet it's hella like that scene with the hallucinating lion from that animated fucker 'bout the zoo animals Rachel had come home squee-ing about and fucking insisting we watch. Uh... Madden? Nah, Mada-whatsit? Mada-whoha? Whatever. We were prime rib-eye steak to these hungry fuckers.

My stomach grumbled as I remembered the fact I hadn't had a decent steak in months.

Damn jerky.

I whirled again as something else rustled past us.

Goddamnfuckshit. Wouldn't these assholes just leave us alone? Come on, we don't look that delicious.

Well, I do, but I bet Victoria would be tough as shit. Like Mutton. Or whatever that shit Wolverine's bones are made of is. Poor wolves, trying to eat the meat off her bones and choking to death.

I think for a sec. I guess that'd be okay.

I made a mental note to let her get eaten first.

PETA would probably sue the shit outta our corpses, but whatever. I haven't got anything worth taking anyway. Then something else rustled past us. "Okay, that one sounded really fucking close."

Sam sighs and walks back over to me, poking the barrel of her shotgun into the bushes. She turns around, opens her mouth and is about to tell me I'm imagining shit when...

Awooooooooo!

Me, Taylor, and Victoria, immediately pulled up our guns and aimed vaguely off into the woods. Kinda pointless, but it made us feel better. Sam and Matt raised them hella slowly. They stayed as still as possible, only looking around with their eyes. Sam's eyes met mine. "Stop moving!" She hisses.

I blink. Stop moving? How the fuck are we supposed to...

And then everything went to shit.

There was another howl, way closer than before, and everything started rumbling. "You guys hear that?" Matt mutters.

"Yeah." Victoria tilts her head, trying to listen. "What is it?"

The bottom dropped out of my stomach. "How long has it been since Yellowstone erupted?"

Victoria and Taylor's mouths both dropped open. Sam shook her head. "It's not Yellowstone. Volcanoes sound deeper."

I didn't even question how the fuck she knew that.

"So... What is it..?"

And, like the shitty cliche my life is turning out to be, that was the minute something decided to burst through the bushes and scare the shit outta me to answer my question.

"Fucking Moose!"

I flailed my arms around and flung myself backward to get out of the fucking thing's way and ended up on my ass on the floor. The others (fuckers) were all grinning at me. Except Matt, he just wandered over and put out a hand to help me up. "You okay?"

I took his hand with a nod and he pulled me back to my feet.

"Yeah, thanks dude."

He shrugs, like it's no big deal. "No problem."

I like Matt. He's a chill dude. He can join me and Max in the bar when we get outta here.

Victoria snorts. "Can we please get a move-"

Before she could finish her bitching, there was another hella loud howl and another half-dozen or more moose burst through the bushes. We all scattered as even more charged through the woods around us. I couldn't even count how many there were, but I got a flashback to the first time me and Rach had watched the Lion King and started running before I ended up like Mufasa.

I tried to keep an eye on where everyone else was running, but I was too busy trying not to trip up on roots and shit. Running in the woods is hard.

Eventually though, when I can't hear any howls, stampeding moose, or screaming (but I can hear the sound of my lungs screaming for me to stop running already), I stop and, when my breath realises I've fallen behind and comes back to check on me, take a look around, meeting eyes with Matt.

And nobody else.

"Shit."

He nods, still calm. "Yep. Do you know where we are?"

I take a look around. "Looks like we're up near Mule Point."

He nods again. "Okay then. Where to, Chloe?"

I pull out my compass and think for a second. "That way." I point. "We can head down to the lake and wait for the others there."

The forest around us was hella quiet as we walked. Fucking eerie as shit. "So..." I started. "How long have you been a fireman?" It was random bullshit, but fuck. I hate the quiet.

He tilts his head. "Five years. Ish. How long have you been a Firewatcher?"

I was taking the piss, trying to fill a hella spooky and awkward silence, but Matt sounds genuinely interested. So, I answer. "Few months. I, uh... I took the job to get away from some shit."

He smiles and nods. "Yeah, I get that. Same here, actually." He shrugs up at me as I hop down from a ledge. "Has it helped?"

I shrug back. "I have no fucking clue. Working on it though."

He nods. "That's cool. Where to now?"

I nod over to the entrance to Thunder Canyon (Still a stupid name). "Through Thunder Canyon."

Matt raises an eyebrow. "Thunder Canyon? Seriously?"

I grin. Matt, you glorious bastard. Finally, someone agrees with me on the stupid fucking name. "Matt, has anyone ever told you you're fucking awesome?"

He blinks guilelessly. "Um... What?"

I laugh at his hella confused look and head off down the canyon. After a few seconds of fish-mouthing, he follows me.

\--

I grab Matt's hand and pull it up so I can look at his watch. "Where the fuck are they?" It's been thirty fucking minutes. There's no fucking way they wouldn't be here by now. Something is definitely wrong.

He shrugs. "Maybe they're lost." He offers, not noticing that I'm not paying any attention to him.

Something happened. It had to have, right? Sam knows what's she's doing out here, even the dumbasses have picked up some shit from me at this point, so...

Yeah.

Something had to have fucking happened.

I don't even remember deciding to go back. I just start picking a route back and pulling the pistol outta my backpack.

Matt's eyes immediately bulge. "Uh, Chloe? What are you doing?"

"What the fuck does it look like I'm doing? I'm going back, I'm gonna find them, then I'm gonna kick their asses for taking so fucking long!" I growl.

He slides in front of me, putting his hands on my shoulders. "Woah, woah, wait."

I glare at him. "What?"

"Don't you think we should wait a bit longer? I mean, they could be right around the corner or something?"

I snort. "You can wait if you want, Matt. I'm gonna go get them to hurry up."

I push past him (and it's like pushing past a brick wall, wow, this dude is fucking ripped) and get two steps away when a hella loud, hella high-pitched howl echoes through the forest around us.

Matt's face drops. "Crap."

But I'm not paying any attention to him (Sorry Matt). My attention is entirely focused on the lithe, grey skinned... thing that's just appeared at the treeline. Its hella long, gangly limbs clung onto a tree as it peered out at us like a nosy fucking puppy.

"What's-"

The thing's head snaps up and its eyes meet mine. It howls, loud and angry and sending a chill down my fucking spine, and leaps off the tree onto the ground and charges towards us.

Matt swears and pulls up his shotgun. "Cover your eyes."

"What the fuck are you-?"

The entire shoreline lights up as fucking fire shoots out the end of Matt's shotgun. It blasts into the thing in a cloud of sparks and knocks it back into the treeline. I gape. "What the fuck was that?"

I don't know if I'm asking about the fire or the monster.

"Dragon's Breath. We load them up to deal with the Wendigoes. You'd be amazed at the crap you can shoot out of a shotgun these days."

"And you shoot them in a fucking forest?!"

He gives me a sheepish shrug and grins. "You may have a-Oh shit!" He fires again as the wendigo jumps out at us with another howl.

Fuck, that thing is fast. It manages to dodge around the Dragon's Breath in mid-air, but fucks up the spin or something and flies past us, slamming into a huge rock. Matt fires at it before it can get up, knocking it back into the forest. "We've got to go. Now!"

We run. North, up towards the trail to Wapiti Meadow. Back where my weird foresty getaway had turned into a fucking horror movie. Ever since I'd found the dumbasses, my life had gotten weirder and fucking weirder.

The wendigo launches itself after us again, leaping from perch to perch like a psychotic, screaming frog. It flew over our heads a couple times, swiping at us so hard I could hear the claws wooshing past my ears. Took everything I had not to shit myself and to keep fucking running. I had long-ass legs and I'd spent six months hiking all over this place, so I could cover a shitload of ground when I wanted to.

But, turns out I don't look where I'm going when I'm trying to keep my eyes on a monster. I trip on a rock or a branch or a squirrel or something and end up on the ground by the river, slicing open a shitload of the skin on my knees when I slide over a bunch of rocks. "Fucking shit!"

I tried to get up, but I'd hit the ground hella hard and my hands slipped in the mud. I try to get up again, but my hands keep slipping! Shitshitfuckohshitohfuck! My heart is racing and I can hear my blood pumping in my ears and I start to get hella certain that I'm gonna die when a hand clamps onto my fucking wrist and yanks me backwards, just as a huge wendigo claw flew past my face and the thing landed where I just was.

I look up to see Matt standing over me like a fucking shotgun-toting Guardian Angel and grin.

The wendigo is less impressed by Matt's badassitude.

It whirls hella fast and launches itself at us again, but Matt managed to hit it with another shotgun round (Seriously, I'm gonna fucking kill him if he burns this place down, even if he did just save my life. I put a lot of work into this shithole.) and knocked it into the forest again. Then, he grabs me by the shoulder and pulls me to my feet. "You okay?"

I nod, hurriedly. "Yeah, I'm hella good. Let's get the fuck outta here!"

"Right." He immediately dashed for the river Ned told us to follow. Fucking shit, he really was fast. I manage to keep up, gritting my teeth as the pain from my knees gets worse the faster I go. But whatever, better pain than fucking dead.

The minute he hit the river, he immediately froze. "Don't... Move..."

I stop too as I spot the wendigo... and another... and another. Oh fuck, the flapjack brought friends. That's hella unfair. They all howl and glare hungrily around the river. I'm about to keep fucking running when Matt hisses again "Stay still!"

One of the wendigoes glances over, but its eyes just... look past both of us. Ooooohhhh! Jurassic Park rules. They can only see moving shit, right? Like the T-Rex (AN-1). I stay as still as I can. A wendigo, wearing some hella bloody overalls, lands right in front of me. It sniffs around me, getting hella close. I can feel its breath on my face, and I can fucking smell it too. Holy shit, that thing stinks. It takes everything I have not to shudder or fucking throw up.

It howls in my face, and I start to flinch, but catch it right at the last second, hoping to fuck that it didn't notice. It stays in my face, sniffing, but... it's not attacking! Fucking A!

Something off in the woods screams, and there's another thunder of hooves, and the three wendigoes immediately charge off towards the sound. Poor moose. Matt waits for a minute or two, listening, then relaxes. "Well. That went way better than I was expecting."

I turn to him. "That was better? What the fuck were you expecting, dude?"

"Oh, y'know. That we'd get paralysed and have our skin flayed off our bones, then get our organs eaten one by one while we die a slow, painful death. Nothing special."

I stare. "Are you fucking serious? Is that what those... things were gonna do to us?"

He points towards another river. "I think that's the river Ned wanted us to follow. Come on, Chloe."

"Matt?" I hurry after him. "Matt? Was it?"

\--

"Chloe? I found something." Matt calls back to me.

I grumble something in response and walk over. Bastard never did answer my question. I can take my good fucking opinion back, dude. "What?"

He points at a wooden shack hidden behind some trees and bushes and foliage shit. "There. I think that's his bolthole."

"I hope there's a crossbow in there, so I can make you a fucking bolthole..." I mumble.

He turns and looks at me, one eyebrow raised. I sigh. "I don't like it when people hide shit from me. My girlfriend, she..."

I sigh again. Fuckin' Rachel.

Matt gives me a look like he just killed my puppy. "I'm sorry, Chloe. Come on, I'll tell you everything while we search. I promise."

He walks up to the door and heads inside. I follow.

"Woah."

Ned really is a fucking survivalist. This place is hella stocked, like a nuclear bunker or something. He's got a bunch of those metal shelf-rack things pushed up against every wall, then another bunch making another rectangle inside, creating a weird corridor thing around the outside of the room. All of them are filled with stuff. The middle of the room is filled with a whole bunch of crates and footlockers.

Matt walks over to one of the shelves and starts searching.

After a couple of seconds, I follow his lead and start rifling through a rack on the opposite wall. "Um, okay, so. It started when we were eighteen, and we did something really, really stupid..."

\--

Matt stuffs the last of the medical shit into a rucksack. "And yeah, so... that's everything. Sam started piecing together reports and sightings and we found Wendigoes weren't the only thing out there, and they weren't only at Blackwood. There's monsters all over the states, so we... deal with them. The emergency fireman thing gets us ways in to pretty much wherever we need to go."

I blink, leaning back on one of the racks, just... digesting everything. "I..."

Three shots ring out, and the door explodes open. I spot blonde hair a second before I start firing. "Oh god, Jesus that thing is fast!"

Fast...

Oh shit.

There's a howl, then another, then another, then another, then another, and five things slam into the walls. The shit on the shelves clatters about hella loudly and a bunch of dust falls from the ceiling. "Shit! We've gotta keep them out!"

"How? We're in a fucking cabin!"

Thanking fuck that Ned didn't put in any windows, I started pushing crates in front of the door. "Just gotta block them out and keep quiet until they bored and fuck off." I glance back to Matt, who's already moved over to help me. "They've got hella short attention spans, right?"

He nods, picking up a crate that I could barely move and dropping it on top of the growing pile of shit blocking the door. "Right."

There's another scream and the walls shake again. One of the shelves falls over, scattering cans all over the floor. "Shit!" Victoria and Taylor run over to it and pull it off the floor, shoving it up against the wall again.

They hit the walls again, then again. Shit, these fuckers are desperate.

"Matt! This isn't working!"

"Well unless you have a flamethrower, this is the best we-oh crap!"

Broken bits of wood rain down on us as the roof explodes in and one of those things lands in a crouch in the middle of the room. Matt immediately raises his shotgun and yells "Freeze!" like he's a fucking cop trying to arrest someone and oh wait, he means us. I froze.

Sam had only managed to get her gun half-raised, and her arms were shaking from the effort of staying still. Luckily, the dumbasses had followed our lead and stopped too, their eyes focused on me in terror and confusion.

I was pretty confused too for a few seconds. Why wasn't he shooting? Then I remembered where we were. Trapped, inside a flammable fucking cabin. If he shot one of those Dragon's Breath things in here, we'd all burn to death.

The wendigo looks about the room, swinging its head around as it hunts for us.

"Don't... move..." Sam breathes.

Another Wendigo peeks its head in through the hole in the roof, snarling as it scans the room. The first one hops from the floor to the roof with another hella disturbing screech. The second one leaps in, landing where the first one was.

We wait for the other fucker to join the party, but no more Wendigoes come through the hole. Thank fuck, this place was hella cramped already.

Fuck, okay. There's gotta be something we can do. My mind was going at a thousand miles an hour, trying to think of some way outta this shitty situation. We'd blocked the door, there weren't any windows, and the wendigoes would catch us if we tried to climb out.

We were hella fucked.

No.

No fucking way.

I am not fucking dying here. There's gotta be a way out.

I took a look around, only using my eyes. I saw the shelves, the pile of boxes at the door, everyone here, and started to get an idea. It was fucking insane and was probably gonna get us all killed, but it's not like we had any better options.

I wiggled my fingers to attract Matt's attention, and caught his eye. "You Cat and Mouse! I'll get the door!" I mouthed. "Cat and Mouse!"

He frowned. Shit, he wasn't getting it. "He's Tom, you're Jerry, dude!"

His face cleared up and he nodded, grinning. We passed it around, making sure everyone knew the plan. Turns out the others were bigger fans of cartoons than Matt, 'cause they got it immediately.

Sam went first, finishing raising her gun. She shot, then dived left. The bullet knocked the wendigo forward. It landed in a spin, with its knees bent, and launched itself back at where she'd been. It swiped hella desperately at empty space, trying to find her.

When it started to get close to her, Matt yelled and hid. Both wendigoes went after him, blindly swiping their claws about in his direction. When they started getting close, Victoria yelled "Hey!" and dropped to hide under one of the shelves.

They kept the cat and mouse thing going, confusing the shit outta the wendigoes as they jumped from one end of the cabin to the other, chasing voices they couldn't ever fucking catch.

I used them as cover, moving whenever the monsters were looking at someone else until I made it to the door. We had to get out, and this was our only way out. So, while they distracted the wendigoes, I moved boxes as quietly as I could.

It was all going hella well... for a while. But luck is a fickle bitch. Victoria left it too long to dodge after a yell and one of the wendigoes caught her. It knocked her to the ground, standing over her like a lanky cat as it screeched into her face. Victoria screamed back, trying to get out from beneath it, but one of its hands shot out and held her down.

Taylor screamed and the other Wendigo started screeching towards her, but the one on Victoria didn't move. It reared up, raising one claw above her.

A hella huge burst of fire hit it, knocking it off her and into one of the shelves. It landed with a howl as shelves and shit fell on it.

Victoria immediately scrambled to her feet and ran over to me. The Wendigo threw off the shelves and launched at her. Sam stepped into its way and emptied her gun at it. Stops it dead. It doesn't hurt it, but it knocks it back enough for Taylor to get out of the other one's way and run over to us.

So, all of us at one end of the cabin, the two Wendigoes at the other. I look back at Taylor and Victoria, "Get the rest of those boxes away from the fucking door!", then glare back at the Wendigoes.

Hella insane standoff, right?

Not for long. The two Wendigoes launch themselves at us. One goes for Sam. One goes for Matt. Matt pulls up his shotgun and effortlessly blasts his Wendigo back down the room.

Sam still hasn't reloaded her fucking gun. She's frantically trying to jam another magasine into her gun, but her hands are shaking hella badly and she can't get it in (Heh. That's what she said.).

Fuck it. I walk up and I pull up the gun.

I remember what the guy who gave me the gun told me.

Stance? Right.

Aim? Check.

Fire.

My shitty gun hurts it even less than Sam's did, but it knocks it back for long enough that Matt can hit it with the shotgun. The fucker squeals and runs back to the other end of the room, glaring angrily at us.

Sam grins, "Thanks", and then they're on us again.

The three of us work together, hella focused on every move the Wendigoes make, shooting the fuckers whenever they get close. Taylor and Victoria move boxes behind us as fast as they fucking can. Matt's shots are getting dangerous. There's no fire or anything yet, but stuff is crackling.

Victoria and Taylor finally get the door cleared, yelling "Jesus, fucking finally!" and running out. I nod my head at the door and Sam follows them, covering them with her gun. I try to get Matt to go next, but he shakes his head. "No way. You go, I'll cover you."

I scowl, but the idiot won't fucking budge, so I go.

As soon as I'm out the door, the two wendigoes inside charge at him. One of them barrels into him and knocks him over, landing on top of him. Before any of us can yell, or shoot, or do fucking anything, the Wendigo's head explodes in a massive burst of fire and Matt kicks it off him. It disappears into the cabin, landing with a hella loud thunk.

The other one fucking runs.

I grin when it disappears into the treeline. "Matt? You good?"

He pulls himself to his feet, stumbling a little and shaking his head. "Yeah, yeah. I think so." He stretches and "Nope, ow, oh god, nope. My ribs are killing me." Victoria scrambles over and puts his arm over her shoulder, helping him walk.

"Awesome. Let's get the fuck out of here."

We run.

Well, me, Sam, and Taylor run. Victoria and Matt do this weird sorta three-legged shuffle-stumble.

Whatever works, I guess.


	15. Reloading is for Wimps, or A Friend of Herschell's

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter XV: Reloading is for Wimps, or A Friend of Herschell's  
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> AN:  
> Hey there, Fan-fic-folks!
> 
> Just a short one this time. Originally it was longer, but it makes for a hella nice lead-in to the next sequence, and I had a really good title for just this bit that wouldn't really fit with the next part, so I split them into two.
> 
> Oh, and I have a question for y'all. If you had a time machine about the size of an Iphone that could take you 30,000 years into the past or future, where would you go? I've got a time travel story planned, and I'm curious if there's anything in particular y'all would want from it.
> 
> Thanks for reading and, as always, please review.
> 
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Fucking shoot it, shoot it!"

I point Matt's shotgun vaguely in the thing's direction and blast it away from us. The Wendigo flips backwards, flying off the ledge and bouncing off a rockface. I pump my fist, "Booya-oh shit!" and blast another leaping Wendigo away from us.

I love this thing. Now I know why rednecks get all excited about their boomsticks. These things are hella fun. Totally need to get me one when I get out of here. Fuck, maybe I'll go the range with David.

Step-douche.

Whatever.

Might as well make the asshole useful for something, and he is a fucking gun nut, so...

Oh shit, we're here. Need to go right, now. Pretty sure it's right. Can't really stop to check my map now though, so right it is!

I blast another Wendigo and yell back to the others "Come on, we gotta go this way!"

Sam and I cover them as they run-stumble up the slope. There should be a ledge to climb up here somewhere. It's gonna be hella difficult to get Matt up it, with his bruised ribs, but it's our only option.

Fuck, I hate that phrase. Only options always suck.

But it really is our only option. Can't go around without going through the Flapjack Fire, and I'm pretty sure that'd fuck Matt up more than a hill.

So, we kept running, and kept shooting, and the Wendigoes kept coming. They flood out the fucking trees like a swarm of angry flying squirrels with lanky frog legs and razor sharp teeth. I just keep firing, grinning as Wendigo after Wendigo screams and runs off burning.

Shit, there had to be hundreds of these fuckers out there. Okay, maybe just dozens. But there's a lot of them, and they all look the same. I can't tell the difference.

After what felt like forever, we managed to make it to the ledge. I picked up the rope and passed it to Sam. "You first."

She nods, holsters her pistol, and starts climbing up. She makes it to the top in about thirty seconds. I blink. Woah.

Then, I shake my head. Come on, Price. Head in the game. I pull up the shotgun and keep an eye out for Wendigoes. Without taking my eye off the treeline, I hiss to the dumbasses "Get him up there!"

They get on with it without bitching. They probably want out of here as much as me, so they're not gonna fucking argue.

Some-fucking-how, the Wendigoes let up long enough for us to get Matt rigged up to the ropes in a way that probably won't kill him the minute anyone pulls on anything.

Probably.

We don't even get attacked when Matt whimpers as we start pulling him up.

But when we get halfway up and he screams?

...

Still nothing.

What the fuck? Where are they? Not that I'm complaining or anything, but it's too fucking quiet.

"Too fucking quiet..."

Victoria grunts, pulling on the ropes again. "What?"

"It's too quiet. Dude just screamed and not a single Wendigo came to check it out."

"You're complaining that no monsters are coming to eat us? Jesus, Chloe, you are fucking weird."

"Got him!" Sam calls down. "He's okay!"

I frown and call back up. "Matt..?"

His head peeks over the edge of the cliff and he grimaces. "I'm good! Oww..."

I grin. "Fuckin' A. Right, Vicky, Tayls, you two next."

The second they clear the ledge, I start clipping myself onto the rope and, with a hella slow look at the treeline (Seriously, where the fuck are those things?) I start climbing.

I get to the top and the forest is totally silent.

Sam is glaring suspiciously at the path we gotta take. I walk over. "It's too fucking quiet."

She nods. "Wendigoes don't give up, not like this. Something is really wrong."

"They don't like, retreat or whatever?"

"No. They keep coming until the sun comes up or you burn them. That's it. This has never..." Her face twists in hella sudden, hella slow realisation. "happened... before..."

"Oh shit."

A scream echoes through the forest, louder and more terrifying than all . The chill down my spine I got from the others turned into a fucking bucket of snow down my back as a wendigo bigger than all the other fuckers I'd seen today leaped out of the treeline and landed on the side of the mountain above us.

It leant back and howled at the sky. My stomach dropped down to my feet, and I felt like I was hella gonna vomit. I was gripping my gun so tightly I thought I could snap the fucking thing like a twig.

When the wendigoes in the forest around us howled back, my heart joined my stomach in my boots. If I wasn't such a badass, I'd've run like fuck.

"Uh, Chloe..."

I don't move, never taking my eyes off the huge wendigo above us, just murmuring out the corner of my mouth. "Yeah, Sam?"

"In... In the trees..."

I glance out the corner of my eye at the treeline at the bottom of the cliff, back where we'd climbed up from. One by one, more and more fucking wendigoes were appearing there. I started counting, but stopped when I lost track at 30.

Oh, god...

We were so fucked.

The big wendigo howled again, and leaped off into the forest. My mouth drops open. Why is it leaving us-

I turn right at the last second and blast with my shotgun as a wendigo leaps. Killing it doesn't stop it's momentum though, and it flies past me and straight into Matt and Victoria, knocking them both off the fucking cliff.

Sam yells something I don't catch as she spots the two fall over the edge. I pull up the shotgun and fire at another couple of wendigoes that try to follow them down.

Separated, again? Why does this keep happening? Seriously? Never split the fucking party!

Wendigoes fly at us from everywhere, and with just me and Sam shooting, more and more of them start getting through. Hella painful cuts and bruises start to add up, and I know we've gotta get the fuck outta here.

Sam was hitting more than I was. She'd grit her teeth and narrowed her eyes as she concentrated. I couldn't get her attention, even if I wanted to.

She wasn't gonna be any help planning a way outta this. So, I'd have to do it. My brain starts working faster and faster, trying to find us any way outta this hella shitty situation we were stuck in.

Somehow, me not paying attention to my shots kinda made me more accurate. Guess that proves what I always fucking knew. The only thing stopping me from being hella amazing was, y'know... me.

That depressing revelation didn't really distract me though. I already knew I was shit and got on with whatever I was doing pretty okay. Need to get up the rest of the hill, that should get us on the trail back to Ned's, but the Wendigoes aren't gonna let us go anywhere.

Wait.

They don't like fire.

I remember the can of deodorant I'd left in my backpack, and the lighter in my pocket.

I don't remember dropping down, shooting a slug into the belly of a wendigo that leaped through where my head was, and shrugging off my backpack.

I don't remember pulling out the aerosol can and taking out my lighter.

I remember a wendigo leaping at me, in slow motion.

I remember pointing the can at it, and flipping on the lighter.

It burst into flames, screaming and writhing, like an ant under a magnifying glass.

I remember the fucker dying.

I drop the can in my pocket, grab the shotgun again, run over to Sam, and yell in her ear "We gotta go! Now!"

"What about the others?"

"We can come back for them. Right now, we gotta lose these fuckers. Nothing we can do-" I stop as two wendigoes jump at me at the same time, ducking under one and blasting the other, then putting another shell into the first one as it lands. "fuckin' A I'm awesome, -do while we're surrounded by these assholes."

She nods, and we start to push our way forward hella slowly along the cliff, still keeping the wendigoes back.

We hit the next hill at a run, barely ahead of the Wendigoes. One of them scrapes a long gash down my back, and Sam gets a few bruises when one bitchslaps her as it jumps past.

But we're all alive (mostly... I push Vicky and Matt outta my head.) and we're nearly back to Ned's. If he's been dealing with these fuckers for this long, he's gotta have some hella awesome defences.

Right?


	16. Potholing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter XVI: Potholing  
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> AN:  
> Hey there, Fan-fic-folks!
> 
> So, I did that thing again where I think I've uploaded but haven't. Apologies. I was going to upload this chapter late for last week, but I had an assessment in for today that was taking longer than I expected (Goddamned Statistical Analysis), so I kept it for this week instead.
> 
> Thanks for reading and, as always, please review.
> 
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

By the time we get back to Ned's, I've shot so many Dragon's Breath rounds that I'm honestly amazed we haven't set the forest on fire.

Again...

Seriously, I have gotta be the worst firewatcher in fucking history. It's like, I don't even have to try to get this place burning.

But anyway. We burst into his cave system and bolt the door behind us, shoving back against it when wendigoes start to thunk into it. We could hear their claws scraping on the metal, and the metal clangs hella loud whenever one of them tries to shove their way in. But the door doesn't budge.

I blink.

Huh.

Good door.

Sam suddenly reaches over and pulls a lever on the wall, and a loud scream echoes through in the distance. Then another. Then another. The wendigoes outside... they stop. A few of them howl, and we hear them charge off into the distance.

I turn to Sam, mouth open. "What the fuck did you do?"

She smiles. "Wendigoes follow sounds, remember? Ned rigged up solar powered speakers all over the park, so we can give them more interesting sounds to chase after."

I grin. Holy shit that's cool.

Sam's smile turns into a scowl as she suddenly whirls away from the door. "Ned!" She yells, striding past me into the caves. "Ned! Where are you?"

He appears a few seconds later, ambling out from a side passage I hadn't noticed before. He stops just short of us, blinking. "Weren't there a couple more of you kids before?" He snarks.

I scowl and step forward, ready to tear into the guy for his assholatry. Sam stops me. "Yeah. There were. They fell into one of the caves."

At the mention of caves, Ned's face turns hella darker than before, flashing a pissed-off expression that could rival mine. "What."

It's not a question.

"The Wolf appeared, riled up the pack, knocked them off into the caves up on the west slope. We're going in to get them."

The Wolf? Did she mean that big... thing? Old Alec Guinness says in my head "That's no wolf." and everyone turns around to stare at me.

At me?

Oh.

I said that out loud.

Inside voice, Price, damnit. Hella stupid, dumbass. Ned's face turns even darker and he steps towards me, jabbing a long, bony finger at me. "No, it's no damn wolf, that's for sure. That's the Mahingan, the Wolf of the Shoshone, and it's the biggest, meanest, deadliest son of a bitch you'll ever meet."

I gulp. "So, why is it bigger than the others? Is it, like, special or some shit like that?"

Ned doesn't break his stare, almost fucking growling at me. It's hella freaky.

"The Mahingan is sort of a cross between Bee Queen and Apex Predator." Sam says, after the silence and the glaring had gotten way too fucking uncomfortable. "The others follow it, but they know it could turn around and tear them apart any time it wants."

"So, don't get alone with it, huh?" I grin.

Sam rolls her eyes in a perfectly exasperated elder-sister sort of way. "Hardy har. No, probably not a good idea."

Ned puts his hand on her shoulder. "This is a bad idea. It's getting dark, and those two are probably already dead."

Taylor noticeably slumps, but doesn't say anything.

Sam, being the kind, hella freaking empathetic soul she is, stares me down, then nods over to Taylor and mouths. "Talk to her."

I shake my head and mouth back "Please no. I suck at that shit."

Sam keeps staring.

I scowl. "Fiiiine." I wander over to Taylor and poke her. Gently, obviously. "Hey, Taylor?"

She looks up, and her eyes are hella fucking red. "Yes, Chloe?"

I look at her for a second, then put my hand on her shoulder. "Come on."

She nods, and follows me into one of the side caves, the one with the half-log bench things. And seriously, how is this place so fucking massive? So damn unfair. She sits down on one of the logs, I take one across from her. "So... Ned's an ass, right?"

She nods. "I know."

"Cool." I really have no fucking idea how to do this. "And y'know we're totally gonna find Vicky again. And your other friend too."

"Courtney."

"Yeah, that one."

Taylor rolls her eyes, but I can see her actually smiling. Huh. Maybe I am good at this. "I just, um..." She takes a deep breath. "I want to come with you."

"You do?"

She nods. "Yeah. She's my best friend, and yeah, it's scary as shit out there, but she's been there for me before, so I want to be there for her."

I blink. Huh. Vicky inspires some hella weird loyalty. Or Stockholm Syndrome. Either way, between me and Rambo, we can keep enough of an eye on Taylor. So, I nod. "Good idea." Motivational and shit, see? "She'll be happier seeing your face than mine, anyway."

Taylor grins, and I know I've done my job, so I stand up and stick out my hands. "Come on. Let's go see what those two're bitching about before they kill each other."

She lets me help her up and we head back into the other room to find...

Honestly, I'm not really sure what we found. Sam and Ned were just staring at each other, growling.

"Uh, guys?"

Nothing.

"Guys?"

Nada.

"Guys!"

They both turn around and blink as I yell at them. I stop myself from grinning. I totally inherited the badass Price shouting gene from Mom. "What's the plan?"

Sam pulls herself up, squares her shoulders and, with a glare back to Ned, declares "We're going into those caves, we're going to find Matt and Victoria, and we're going to kick the asses of whatever Wendigoes get in our way."

Ned sighs. "If you're hell bent on this insanity, I might as well try make sure you come back." He turns around and heads deeper into the caves, waving at us when we don't follow. "Come on! One piece is probably too much to hope for, but I'll see if I can get you back in two."

He leads us into an armoury. The place was... hella impressively kitted out for a cave in the fucking woods. Not, like, army base kitted out, but he had more guns than David did, so...

Is that Kevlar? What the shit?

\--

"Chloe. You're stroking your gun again."

I tear my hand away from the barrel of my new shotgun and grin back at Sam. "Just trying to show my girl a good time."

Ned snorts. "My girl. These are loaners. Understand?"

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Understood." When he turns back around, I look over at Taylor and mouth "Spoilsport"

She giggles, smooshing her face with her hands when Ned turns back around, eyes narrowed. "You get in, you get down, and you get out. No playing around."

Sam snorts, eyeing Ned with irritation. "We've been doing this for longer than you have, Ned. We know what we're doing."

Ned scoffs. "I," He points to his chest with one thumb. "was in the army for ten years. If anyone knows what they're doing, it's me."

I butt in. This shit ain't helping anyone. "Shut the fuck up, both of you." Polite and well-fucking-mannered, I am hella not. "This isn't helping shit. Let's just get on with it and get out of here, okay?"

They both nod obligingly, and Ned grumblingly leads us over to the exit. As we're about to leave, something occurs to me. Something important. Mainly that Max is totally gonna kill me. "Hey, guys? Gimme a sec, I need to report into my boss, make sure she doesn't call in the cavalry or whatever."

Ned scowls, but says nothing. Sam nods encouragingly. "Good idea."

Cool. I head a little ways away from them and pull out my radio. "Hey, Max?"

...No response?

"Max?!"

After a few seconds, the radio crackles into life "Shit, Chlo, where the fucking shit-ass hell have you been? It's been hours! Wowzers, I was so freaking worried about you! Don't do that to me again you goddamn dumbass piece of-"

I pull the walkie away from my ear and smile awkwardly at the others. Ned looks kind of impressed.

"Chill, Maxie. I'm okay, really."

"Chill?" She says, voice eerily calm.

Oops.

"Chloe, these woods are so fucking dangerous. People disappear all the time. They disappeared without a trace, and... and I don't want the same to happen to you, okay?"

I sigh. She has a point, I guess. I really fucking hate that. "Okay, Max. You're hella right. I'm sorry."

"Good. Now, what's happened? Did you find Ned? Or Brian?"

Ned's face creases up when Max mentions him and his son. Shit, his son... I totally fucking forgot about him. We've been all over that cave, so... where the hell is he? Ned immediately stares at me as the quiet continues. I gulp. "Uh, one sec Max." I cover the receiver and turn it away, so Max can't hear. "What do I say?"

"Tell her nothing about me."

He doesn't say what'll happen if I do. With the look in his eye, I don't think he really needs to. Whatever. I can just tell her later when he's out of earshot, if I need to. "Cool. Sorry, Max. Hard to walk and talk at the same time. We didn't find him, and we kinda lost a couple of us down in the caves."

"In the caves?"

"Yeah, there were these things... The things that pulled down the helicopter." I take a deep breath, and continue "They're out here, Max. They knocked Matt and Vicky off a ledge, and they, like, fell into some caves or something. We're gonna go kick ass and get them back."

"They're real? Do you know what they are?"

Sam shakes her head. I roll my eyes. Like I said, I can just tell her later. "No idea, Maxie. They're big, they're fast, and they're fucking scary."

Max takes a breath. "Okay, just... stay safe, please? We keep those caves locked for a reason. And you fucking call me if you need anything, okay?"

"You too, Maxie. We don't know if these things are just over here or all over the shoshone so... keep an eye out."

She laughs. "I barely leave my lookout, Chloe. I'll be fine."

Heh. "Yeah, you'll be safe from the Wendigoes, but you're definitely gonna die from heart disease or something."

There's a pause, then... "Did you say Wendigoes?"

Ah, shit. "Yeah, it's what we called them. It's from some old Native American myth."

After a second, Max's voice comes back through the radio, hella melodic all of a sudden. "Mankind's greed, and disregard for nature, the Wendigo is born of these. Hunger foul, and appetites unending, the Wendigo will feed."

I blink. Huh. "Is... that a quote from something?"

"One of the guidebooks they give us when we start. You've probably got a copy in your lookout. I just..." Something rustles on the other end of the line. "I never thought they could be real, you know?"

"Chill, Max. It's just a name. Couldn't keep calling them the big scary ugly motherfuckers, could we?"

She chuckles, but it's just sort of... empty. "I guess not. Well, okay. Good luck, and call me when you can. Max out."

I stow my radio back on my belt and turn to the others. "Come on then, let's get going."

Sam shrugs, gesturing to Taylor, and the three of us scurry out of Ned's cave hideout-base and start off in the direction of the caves.

\--

"Down!"

I drop just in time to feel the heat of the Dragon's Breath on my back, and the Wendigo that was about to rip my face off screams in hella shrill agony, fleeing back from us into the shadows in the forest.

I roll over just in time to see Sam grin. "And that's how we do that."

I look up at her, muscles rippling, gun leant on one shoulder, determined look on her face. "You're from Texas, aren't you?"

She frowns. "Yeah. How did you know?"

I roll my eyes and share a smirk with Taylor. "Oh, just a hella good guess."

She shrugs, accepting the bullshit, and keeps looking up around us. "We'd better get moving. We're nearly there."

Me and Taylor pull ourselves together, I check my ammo, Taylor checks her privilege, then we nod to Sam, letting her take the lead. The girl is like Greenpeace meets fucking Rambo, I definitely want her between me and the Wendigoes.

\--

Two miles of walking, weapons, and wendigoes later, we end up back at the top of the cliff that Matt and Vicky got knocked off of. Me and Sam switch between looking down into it and looking out into the forest so one of us is always keeping watch. Taylor just sort of hung around, muttering at the pack she had to keep adjusting over her shoulders. Heh. Weak-ass Blondie. Unfuckingfortunately, it was getting hella dark so, while we could see fine up here, looking down into the cave, our eyesight just... stopped at a certain point, and it was completely black after that.

I shudder. Great job, Price, creeping yourself out. Keep it together. I look over at Sam. "So, do we go in from here?"

She doesn't look away from the treeline. "You tell me. You were supposed to be the local expertise."

She's right, I guess. So, I did what I always did when I wanted to find out where something was. I pull out my map. There were a couple other cave systems around here, but none close enough that they'd be a guaranteed way down to where we needed to get.

"We're going to have to go in here."

Sam nods, like it was completely expected and no trouble at all to climb down a sheer fucking cliff-face, and says to Taylor "Come over here, would you? I need some things from your pack."

Taylor smiles and skitters over, always hella grateful to be of any help at all. And probably even more grateful to lose some of the weight from that pack. That shit looked heavy as fuck when Ned dumped it all on her. After a few seconds of searching, Sam hands me a bundle. "Set the Pitons in that wall over there. We'll keep watch."

I shrug, and do as she says. Greenpeace Rambo, remember? She knows what she's doing.

The Pitons take a little hammering, but I managed to get them pretty well secured. Hopefully this isn't gonna be another MyShittyBossIsTryingToGetMeKilled Hill thing. "Got it!"

Sam slings her gun over her shoulder and brings Taylor over with her, giving her a quick runthrough of the gear. "Clip this onto that, and loop those through there, then-"

You get the idea.

When we're all nice and secured, and standing right at the edge, I...

Don't look down.

DO NOT LOOK DOWN.

(Shrek! I'm lookin' down!")

I grin. I can almost hear Max saying some shitty pun about living on the edge.

I push off.

Oh shit.

\--

"Huh. This isn't so bad."

Sam grins over at me as she scuttles down the wall like a fucking gecko, being careful to keep her little head-light thing from blinding me. "It's pretty cool, isn't it?"

I nod as I take another couple of steps down the cliff wall. It was starting to level out, so the climbing was getting hella easier as we got further down the slope.. Still dark as fuck and my heart beat too fast even thinking about missing a step, but still. Hella easier.

Before I know it, we've gotten down to a new plateau, and the ropes pull taut. We're now 50ft down. And still no sign of the others. Not even a blood trail or anything. Shit. Matt was injured already, how the fuck would he survive this?

I look over to Sam, who's currently muttering reassuring things to Taylor and rubbing at her back.

I look over the edge. Still pitch black. "Fuck it." I shrug. "No point stopping now."

Sam nods in agreement, and we start over the next ledge. It's a hella harder climb, with barely any footholds, but we seem to be managing. Even Taylor's starting to get into this shit a little.

We keep going down, taking it step by slow-ass step, and, as everything gets darker, we all start to go quiet.

Every few steps, a few bits of rock fell off the wall, nothing bit, just pebbles and shit, but I flinched every time. At this point, the only light was from our headlamps, and it felt like the dark was just... pushing in at us, down onto us. Hella claustrophobic, even though I could tell from the air and the echoes of our breathing that we were in a pretty big cave.

It was while I was trying to stop myself thinking about that shit that my foot landed on some of that loose rock.

Then, nothing.

"Chloe!" Sam screams as I slip, plummeting down into the dark in fear and fucking terror and oh shit I am gonna die here and-

"Oh."

I unclip my belt and drop three feet down to the cave floor.

"I'm okay! I'm fine. Wasn't that far." I call back up. I mean, my ass kinda hurts from the ropes and harnesses and shit going taut, but still. I'm not breathing. That's pretty okay for this fucking day.

Sam gets down first, and smiles when she sees me. Taylor, on the other hand, skitters over and, after a second pause (with a hella unsure look on her face) throws her arms around me and hugs me hella tight. I pat her awkwardly on the back and mutter something about me being okay until she lets go. "I'm so glad you're not dead, Chloe."

"Yeah, y'know, me too." She smiles. I quickly change the subject. "So, can we get any more light in here?"

Sam calls back "Way ahead of you, Chlo." She pulls out a couple of those handheld camping lantern things from her bag and sets them up at her feet. They're uncomfortably bright to look at, but they light up the rest of the cavern pretty well. I was right, it's a pretty decently sized space. Which is kinda annoying. Why is everything bigger than my lookout?

Sam points to one side of the cavern. "That's the only way out, and they're not in here, so..."

I pull my pack on, check on Taylor again (she was doing okay), and shrug. "Right. Come on then."

\--

After the third time Sam stops and peers down at something on the floor that I hella can't see, I had to ask. "What the fuck are you doing, dude?"

"Huh?"

"The stopping and shit. What're you even looking at?"

She gives a little laugh. "Oh, right." She beckons us over, and points to a little section of the floor. "See those pebbles? They've been disturbed recently, and there's parts of a shoe imprint. That means they went this way."

"You can track?"

She shrugs, like it's no big deal.

"Wait." I raise an eyebrow. "A vegan who hunts?"

She chuckles again. "A vegan who hunts monsters that eat people."

Damn. Greenpeace Rambo is more badass than I thought.

She catches sight of something else a little further down the tunnel. "Over here. They're this way."

\--

"Sam, can we stop for a sec?" I gasp out.

She turns around, looks back at the two of us with our red faces and heaving chests and smiles self-deprecatingly. "Sorry. I just..."

I snort. "Yeah, we get it. Just isn't gonna do us much good if we collapse before we find them, okay?"

She nods, wandering back to us, and offers around her... shit, what were those things called? Soldiers put water in them. Eh. Whatever. It doesn't matter. I shake my head, and pull out my own water bottle. Taylor takes it and nods gratefully though.

"So, we're still on their trail, huh?"

Sam nods, but frowns, like she's got a puzzle and she hasn't worked out how all the little bits fit together yet. "They've gotten much further than I thought, especially with Matt's leg like it was."

Heh. "Yeah, I was gonna ask. We're exhausted and we're barely injured at all. How the fuck did Matt and Vicky get this far on their own?"

Sam sighs. "I don't know. But it means they're alive."

Taylor smiles. "That's good."

Sam hmms, not looking at any of us.

Taylor blinks at her with a slow frown. "Isn't it?"

There's a pause, then Sam suddenly smiles. "It is. Come on, let's get going again." She shrugs. "They're probably not much further ahead."

Taylor and I exchange a 'fuck it, why not' look and we keep going.

\--

We hit a cavern that looks kind of like a grain silo. Really tall, really thin, and it opened at the top into clear air. I wave to the others to stop and pull out my walkie. "Max?"

Static.

"Max!"

"C-rszk-E! T-fzzt-rs m-ulzk i-terfrzll-se"

I sigh. Damnit. Too much to fucking hope. At least she could sorta maybe hear me and knows I'm not dead. That's hella good. I look down at the radio, trying to remember the last time I used it when I wasn't in a life or death situation.

Huh.

Only a couple days ago.

Not bad.

"Uh, guys?" Taylor says, voice anxious.

"Yeah, Taylor?" I answer, without looking up from the radio in my hand.

"There's no way out."

What. I look up, scan the wall, and fuck-it she's right. "Are you sure you were tracking them the right way, Sam?"

Sam scowls. "Yes! I know what I'm doing. They turned down the corridor to this room. They have to be in here somewhere."

I throw my arm out and wave to the rest of the room. "Well, they're clearly fucking not. You must've missed something somewhere. Come on, we're going back."

Sam grabs my arm. "No! We're not-"

I instinctively shove her back. I hadn't had people in my personal space without some fucking warning since... since Rach. Shit, that was feeling so small, compared to all this shit. "Oh shit, I'm hella sorry, I just-"

She flipped me! She fucking flipped me!

I look up at her from the floor behind her and she smirks back over her shoulder at me. "Now we're even."

I hold my glare for a few seconds, but pretty soon I'm mirroring her smirk. "Yeah, yeah. You're still a short-arse, even if you are hella freakishly strong."

She glares back. "I mean, I can flip you again, if you want."

I hold up both hands and let myself flop back flat onto the ground. "Fuck no, dude. That already hurt enough." I follow her upside-down with my eyes as she stands up. "So, we gonna go back out now?"

Sam takes a look around, and her shoulders slump. "I guess. They're clearly not in here, so I must've missed something." She sounds so dejected. I feel like I just kicked a puppy, and told it it sucked. Fuuuck. "Damnit! Come on, let's go."

She walks over and holds out her hands to help me up. I let her grab me, this time, and she pulls me up with a hard tug that basically tucks us hella close together. My chin is basically on top of her head. Jeez, she is hella smol. I look down at her and grin. "Hey down there."

She rolls her eyes, indulgent grin all over her face. "Hardy har. Get some original jokes."

"When they're this good, who needs to?" I step back from her, and look up towards Tay... huh.

I tilt my head curiously, following one of the cracks in the wall down to a hella well-hidden tunnel. Two outcroppings half covered it from both sides, so nobody could actually see it unless they were, well... basically right where I was.

Lucky me.

"Guys. I think they did come in here."

Sam rolls her eyes. "It's okay, Chloe. My ego doesn't need the stroking, and we don't have time. I just... eurgh. This has never, ever happened before, and it only happens when it actually counts? It's just so... frustrating."

I snort, interrupting before her rant can go on any longer. "No dude, I'm hella serious. Look."

I point over my shoulder, and the other two girls follow my finger and "Ooohhh."

Sam grins, suddenly elated as the hella remorseful face from a second ago disappears. Like it was never there... "I knew they came in here!"

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, yeah, Sam. No-one likes a bad winner."

She chuckles as we all walk over to the weirdly well-hidden tunnel and check it out. We wouldn't be able to go through with our packs on, but we could definitely get through there.

"Taylor, you got the glowsticks, right?"

She nods. "I think so. Sam did shove some tubes in my backpack, and I'm pretty sure they were glowsticks."

I wave her over and start going through it until I find the little bundle of plastic tubes. "Yep. Got 'em."

I crack one, and toss it through into the tunnel. It clatters against some rock, lighting up bits of a large cavern. "Cool. No drop. We can get through there, easy." I turn to the others and grin. "Who wants to go first?"

Sam goes first. Obviously.

The second I get through the gap into the new cave, I reshrug-on my pack, and tighten the straps again without really thinking about it. Habit now, I guess. I get it done just in time to stumble right into Taylor's back. "Ugh, for... guys, why the fuck did you..."

Oh...

"stop..."

The room was filled with bones.

Not like, completely, or anything, that would just be weird. (AN: #Meta) But there were a hella lot of them, and they were together in piles enough for us to be able to recognise what they came from.

People.

Fucking people.

We were in a room full of dead fucking people.

I was the first to manage to pull my eyes away from the skeletons and check out the rest of the cavern. There were a whole bunch of torn-up and rotting hide tents around the edge, and a campfire in the middle (that all the bodies were scattered around).

I walked over to one of the tents and started poking through it, trying to find... something that'd explain who the fuck these people were, and how they got down here.

Nothing. Everything in the tents had been fucked up enough by time and water damage that I couldn't work out what any of it was. I poked at one big piece of hella sodden fabric. Could've been a pillow, could've been a jacket. I had no idea.

I looked back over my shoulder to see the other two had started silently searching as well.

None of us wanted to think about who those skeletons could be.

After a few minutes, I wasn't exactly sure how long exactly, Sam called us over. We walked over to find her staring down at a ragged mess of papers that looked like it used to be a book about a hundred years ago, but had gotten thrown about and dropped so much it fell to pieces, and then someone tried to remake it using shit they found at those weird little-shit shelves by the tills.

After a few moments of silence, Sam began to talk. "They were poachers. Back in the Colonial Period. The last entry talks about a cave-in, and hearing screaming."

Shit... "The wendigoes got them? Those things are that fucking old?"

She nods. "I guess so. And Wendigoes live for a very long time. They'll live until they burn."

Well. That got creepy.

A screaming howl suddenly tore through the cave, echoing around us. Then another, then another.

Oh fuck.

"They're in the caves."


	17. Trapped

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there, Fan-fic-folks!
> 
> Apologies for this being late. Long week. But we're nearing the finish line now, people. Everything seems to be drawing closer to an end, so I'm reiterating the whole 'it'll be finished by chapter 20' thing from a couple chapters back. Hopefully this is a prediction I'll be right about. That'd be nice.
> 
> If you're one of those people that follows multiple stories of mine, I should be uploading a chapter of my D&D story, Roll for Initiative! (yeah, I know. The name is kinda lame, but I really had nothing else for it), sometime tomorrow. It just needs checking for typos and shit first. Right now, I'm exhausted and heading to bed. G'nit, y'all.
> 
> Thanks for reading and, as always, please review.

"They're in the caves."

"Fuck." I think I said that already. Sam dashes back to the entryway, taking long, loping steps the way you're supposed to do when you're trying to be quick and quiet in the woods. Turns out, that doesn't really work in a cave. By the time she gets there, she's knocked about enough little pebbles and thudded into the cave floor enough to attract some heavily unwanted attention.

There's another howl from the silo-like cave, and Sam darts back over to us, dispensing with the stealth entirely as she hisses "We need to get out of here. Now!"

I shrug back at her. Like, what does she want me to do, there's only one way out and it's kinda full of Wendigoes right now. Plus, Taylor is about ten seconds away from shrieking in terror, so I don't really wanna throw her into a pit of Wendigoes. That'd just be mean.

I try to take a second to think, but another shriek provides a pretty decent reminder that we're on a pretty homicidally angry clock. So, I do what I always do when shit hits the fan.

No, not punch a dude in a bar and yell about baked goods at him. I grab Taylor's hand and drag her into one of the tents near the exit.

Not like that, pervs. I help her duck down and hide out of sight, then gesticulate wildly at Sam to follow our lead. Gotta add smart as fuck to Greenpeace Rambo's resume, because she twigs hella quickly and darts into a tent across from us.

And then, we wait.

There's more howls from the other room, and it takes about ten minutes of patient (boring) waiting before a couple of the fuckers come poking into our cave like nosy dogs. They snuffle around a bit, poking at a few of the, uh... meatier piles of shit, then howl loudly. Taylor whimpers, just a little, when they do, so I squeeze her hand comfortingly.

Or, what I thought was comfortingly. Her facial expression was more wince than thanks, but still. She stayed quiet after that. Small mercies.

We waited until the Wendigoes stopped making noise, and a little while after until I couldn't fucking take it anymore. So, I crept forward, taking hella careful steps to avoid stepping in any of the mysterious, possibly-people goop that was all over the floor of the tent.

Ynngleh.

That shit is disgusting.

I poke my head just far enough out of the tent to see shit, but not far enough for shit to see me. And... shit I do not see! The room was clear of Wendigoes. Which was weird, 'cause I hadn't heard them go back out, and the silo-looking cave was quiet anyway so...

Where the fuck were they?

That's when an idea hit me. One that I really, really, really fucking hoped wasn't right. I slowly turn my head, trying to catch sight of...

Yep.

They were on the fucking ceiling.

That is hella unfair.

An old song lyric pops into my head. Oh, what a feelin', yeah, I'm dancin' on the ceiling.

Seriously, brain? Seriously?

They're all skittering around another semi-concealed (I am hella good at spotting shit) tunnel entrance, waiting weirdly patiently while each of them works their way through it. Turns out, even ancient evil monsters that'd sooner rip you limb from sodden limb than talk over tea and crumpets (seems like the sort of thing evil monsters would talk over, right? I've seen Dracula movies) know how to queue.

I stand there for fuck knows how long, staring up at the ceiling in blind terror and trying to stay as still as goddamn possible. Being that close to three dozen, angry, screaming murder-geckoes was definitely one of the scariest things I'd ever done, and I'm including that time I was actually chased by them. At least there I could try get away. If we tried running in here, we'd be caught in...

I tilt my head, staring at a lower part of the wall, behind Sam's tent. Another exit. Goddamn, I am good.

Sam had found it first, so not that good, but still. It's the thought that counts, and my thought is that I am a badass. She waves back when she sees me, mouthing "Come on! I think they got out this way!"

I blink, and mutely point upwards. She stares at me incomprehendingly for a second before flipping me off with a grin. I roll my eyes and jab my finger upwards, emphasising to look up with my eyes.

She gets it, and looks up.

She looks down, and her face has gone white. "We need to go. Now." She mouths. I blink again. She did see the Wendigoes, right? "Wait?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "This is a Nest. A Nest..!" She repeats Nest twice, just in case I'm too stupid to get what that means.

It did take me a second, so...

Yeah.

I turn back to Taylor, who's basically catatonic at this point, staring off into the distance and mouthing what I'm pretty sure are hair-care tips to herself over and over. Guess everyone really does react to stress differently.

So, I ease her up, being careful to keep shit slow and not startle her. The last thing we wanted right now was to attract any attention.

We take it slow, with lots of starting and stopping. Whenever we thought a Wendigo might be looking over, we froze and they quickly lost interest.

Still, we make pretty good time, and we're across the room, basically outside Sam's tent in just over five minutes (felt like twenty, but I had a very good watch).

And of course, just when the end is in sight, like always, is just when shit starts to hit the fan. I'd stopped paying attention to where Taylor's feet were going the closer we got, thinking she'd keep up fine on her own.

But she wasn't. Her foot lands on something hard, and it snaps. The thing she landed on, not her foot. I didn't see what it was. Could've been a person bone, could've been a tent bone, could've been a packet of nachoes for all I know.

Either way, the crack echoes off every wall in the cavern like the yells of someone on crack, and every single Wendigo still in here turns to look in our direction.

All at once.

It's a genuine fucking miracle I don't piss myself.

I grab Taylor's arm and hoist her over my shoulder in a fireman's carry, charging for Sam's exit (which she already disappeared into). A Wendigo swings through the space where I was standing barely seconds after I start moving, shrieking when it misses me.

I don't stop, pumping my legs as hard as I can, fucking sprinting the last few steps and tossing Taylor through the cave. I whirl just in time to grab one of the struts of Sam's tent, pulling the thing down in front of the exit just as I dive through after her.

I pick myself up almost the instant I land, rolling back up into a standing position. It's hella cool, and I take a second to kinda wish Max could've seen it before getting back to the whole 'life-and-death' thing.

I spare a sec to glance back at my improvised barricade, and see that the Wendigoes are already throwing themselves against it. If it wasn't such a small gap, and such a well-built tent (seriously, these colonist guys were pretty good at that) that fit right into that gap, they'd already have gotten through.

It wasn't gonna hold for long, but fuck it, every little helps.

I turn back to find Sam helping up a finally-aware Taylor to her feet. She scurries over when she sees me, and throws her arms around me in a tight hug, babbling in my ear about how scared she was and how worried she was and all that other feelings shit.

I freeze for a second before... ah, fuck it. I hug the girl back. Maybe this dumbass isn't so bad after all. Jury's still out on Vicky though.

I pull away first and say hurriedly "We have got to go. Now."

Sam rolls her eyes from down the corridor (when she did get over there?) and says, "I said that already!"

"Yeah, yeah. Just run!"

"Which way?" She yells back.

"Pick one! Getting away from these fuckers is more important than leading them to injured Matt right now, don't you think?"

Her face goes ashen and she nods. "Right, you're right. Okay. This way." She picks a direction at what looks like random but I'm pretty sure is the product of years of experience and training, and we head right.

We get maybe a hundred feet down the tunnel over the next minute before the echoing sound of cracking bone alerts us to the fact that the Wendigoes are after us again. We took a bunch of turns on that tunnel though, so I was sure we'd have a little longer than a minute for the Wendigoes to catch up.

We took another left, into a largish cavern with a couple exits, one low down in front and one high up, at the top of a slope, and off to the right. I was in front, so I took the initiative and kept going straight. We'd have to slow down to get up the slope, the Wendigoes wouldn't, so... yeah.

I don't know how long we stayed ahead of the Wendigoes, but eventually they started to catch up. We were stuck in another junction cavern, this time with three ways forward, and the howls were coming from in the last cavern.

This cavern, Taylor finally stumbles. She did pretty good, keeping up with me AND Sam for this long, but yeah. She goes down and hits the dirt. Rock. Whatever.

I rush over to pick her up when Sam hisses "Don't. Move."

Shit. Our fucking luck. I rotate my body, ever so slightly, to see Wendigoes pouring through the entrance to our cavern like spiders out of a burst egg sac. I take back what I said about the ceiling. This is the scariest fucking situation I've ever been in.

I have to stop myself from instinctively pulling up my shotgun and blasting away, but there's no way I can take out that many at once. It looks like the whole nest came after us. So, we freeze. The Wendigoes flood out into the room, heads scanning for any sign of us. Pretty sure they can hear us, so they know we're in here, even if they can't find out exactly where we are.

I look at the nearest exit, a hella sharp drop into pitch black, and start trying to think of a way out. Turns out being scared shitless really helps you work through your mental shit, too. My mind felt hella clear for the first time in a while.

Unfortunately, what it managed to clear up was the fact that we were probably gonna die in here, which totally sucked.

I was about to put my hastily improvised plan to get Taylor to the edge when Sam suddenly exploded.

Not with fire, but with light. And fire. She'd dropped her bag at her feet, completely empty, and tossed each of the three molotov cocktails inside into a clump of Wendigoes.

While they were distracted by the pain and screaming, she rushed forward, leaving her bag, and throws her arms around me.

I frown for a second, wondering what the hell she's doing, when suddenly I realise as the shotgun strapped to my back is twisted (the strap kinda strangling me a little) as she pulls it up to ready position.

She spins us around, and empties the chamber into a dozen Wendigoes in mid-flight, sending them careening back from us and adding to the already hot situation in here. As the things howl, she looks me in the eye and mutters a quick "Sorry, Chloe. Make sure you find Matt." and shoves.

Taylor and I tumble down the steep as fuck incline, hitting every stalag-whatever on the way down. The last view I catch of Sam is her standing there, blasting out flares and bullets like an avenging Valkyrie with a starring role in a Michael Bay movie.

\--

We come to in a smallish cavern, nothing spectacular, and mercifully empty of Wendigoes. I wipe at my eyes (fucking eyelash!) as I remember what happened. Damnit. Damnit, that stupid fucking...

I sigh. Done now, I guess. Not much I could fucking do about it. Just like always. Fucking useless, Price. Fucking. Useless.

A groan comes from the body next to me as Taylor pulls herself up, rubbing at her shoulders. "Ow. That hurt."

"Yeah."

I look up at her, and sigh. "Come on." I pull myself up and start moving around the cavern, looking for an exit. Or just, anywhere to go that isn't back up there. I did not wanna see if what Matt said the Wendigoes did to their victims was true.

Not for Sam.

"Chloe." Taylor appears at my shoulder as I'm leaning down, trying to use my lamp to see into a smallish tunnel opening in one of the walls. It looks pretty safe, but I'm not sure where it goes.

"Yeah?" I ask, in the most hostile tone I could manage. I knew exactly what the kindhearted, naive dumbass was gonna say, and we didn't have time for that right now (and I didn't wanna hear it, my brain reminds me, hella helpfully tacking a singsong 'you didn't do anything' on the end).

She stays quiet for a second, then, in a small, small voice, says "Nevermind. Find anything?"

I shake my head. "I dunno. We might be able to get out this way. Think I prefer the one over there, though. It kinda looks like it goes up."

She shrugs. "Okay."

I feel a pang of guilt at the sound of her voice, but I ruthlessly push that shit down. We do not have the fucking time. "Right. Let's go then."

We head up the passage, following the slight incline upwards in hopes of getting out of this shithole. That, I knew, we both agreed on. We had to.

And hey, I felt good about this route. I bet we're gonna be out in no time.

\--

"Where are we, Chloe?"

"I have no idea." We'd been walking for what felt like hours (my watch had broken in the fall, which made me kinda sad. I lov-liked that damn watch.) and both of us had barely said a word the entire time.

The tunnels had started to get tighter, too. We had to shimmy through in places, and crawl in others. It felt... I dunno. Oppressive. Like the walls were closing in.

But we kept going forward. We had to.

There was nowhere else to go.

The air was getting colder, and harder to breath in. That meant we were hella deep. Which we shouldn't have been. The tunnels had mostly been going upwards. Hadn't they? They... they had to have done.

We were going upwards.

We were.

I grit my teeth, shaking my head hard, scattering my hair and my thoughts. No, Price. You're freaking out. Keep your shit together. You gotta keep this dumbass alive, and find the other one. And Matt. Can't forget Matt. Nope.

We end up in a fucking maze of tunnels and caverns and, of course, we get completely fucking lost. Caverns and tunnels go round and round and round and round, every tunnel taking us right back to where we fucking started.

That feeling of the walls closing in starts get to worse. Even wide open caverns feel small. Somehow. It's even getting to Taylor now. I can see her jittering: her hands shake, her eyes dart around, and she keeps muttering angrily to herself.

I try to be reassuring, put a hand on her shoulder, say "Hey, we're gonna find them. It'll be okay, dude."

Bad idea.

She suddenly whirls in a burst of motion and jabs a finger at me, snarling "This is your fucking fault, Chloe! If you hadn't been such a bitch about the damn fireworks, they'd still be alive. You... you killed them!" She leans right in, putting her face barely centimetres from mine and says, in a low, low voice "It's your fault."

My hackles immediately go up, and I jab my finger at her and growl "Don't you fucking dare. I saved your lives, you stupid fucking asshole!"

She scoffs. "Yeah, only to kill us all later. Was this your plan all along? Keep us going with all that hopeful bullshit, then deliberately fail us?"

She leans back, crosses her arms. "It's your failure that got them killed, right?"

I could feel the anger radiating off her, and somehow I... started to feel it too. At myself. She wass right. "N-no... I did everything I could... Everything!"

Another scoff. "Pfft. Missing people, dead deer, you totally should've seen those Wendigo things coming. And then, you should've kept a better eye on us."

I roll my eyes, trying to hide the fact that I agreed with everything she was saying. Wait, no. No I didn't! Did I..?

"You do." Her face flashes forward grinning wider than seemed possible with her mouth, and her eyes sparking with malice. "Failure."

I blink, and she's suddenly across the cavern from me... What..? She turns, frowning at me. "Sorry Chloe, did you say something?"

I stare in silence for a few seconds, and her face creases in concern. "Chloe? Are you okay?"

I nod hurriedly, avoiding her big, blue eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine. Lay off. We're going this way." I stride off into another tunnel entirely at random. I didn't even know where we'd started so.., what the fuck did we have to lose?

Oh right, yeah.

Nothing.

\--

When we drop down into an actually sunlit tunnel, I could almost cry with fucking happiness. All that oxygen deprivation was making me weird and... emotional. Gleh.

We hurry towards the light and... of-fucking-course. It's a hole in the ceiling, and the cliff wall was basically a hella straight stack of teeth. So, basically impossible to climb up to.

Our fucking luck.

I check out the rest of the cavern, and catch Taylor eyeing me out the corner of my eye. "What?"

"Are you, um... okay? You look..." She trails off as I glare at her.

"I'm fucking fine, dude. Just wanna find these idiots already. I mean seriously, where the fuck did they go? We've been wandering around here for fucking hours, and nothing."

"We'll find them, Chloe. You're a badass, remember?" She smiles at me, and I am honestly shocked that she has faith in me. Like, seriously, me!? And she's met me and everything. Hella crazy, man. Hella.

So, I ask.

"Why do you believe in me?"

She blinks, tilts her head like she's never even thought about questioning it. "Because you saved our lives. Because you're still trying to save our lives." She grins. "Because your hair is pretty cool." She shrugs dismissively. "Take your pick."

I stare at her for a second, her hella weirdly straight fringe, and her hella tiny snub nose, and... ah, fuck it. I grin back. "My hair is pretty cool."

She beams. "It is. And we're going to find Victoria, and Matt, and probably Sam too if she's not dead, and then we're going to make a plan." She nods, saying every word with a surprising amount of forcefulness to it that kinda makes me wanna just agree with her.

Damn.

"Yeah we are. We can do this, right?"

She nods. "Right. We can totally do this."

"Totally." Eurgh. "Right. This way." I pick a tunnel and start towards it.

A hella loud scream comes from the other tunnel. Not a Wendigo scream, that was definitely a person. I turn around and head straight for the tunnel of screams. "Nope. This way."

Taylor gulps. "We can totally do this."

"Yep."


	18. Graveyard Whistling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter XVIII: Graveyard Whistling  
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> AN:  
> Hey there, Fan-fic-folks!
> 
> I wanna say I'm sorry for this chapter. I didn't really wanna make happen what I did make happen, it just sort of.., uh... happened. I feel like it works, for the story, though. I don't particularly like disposing of characters. I feel like I'm blunting a knife on my toolbelt or some equivalent. So, yeah. I feel bad about writing what I did write (you'll know which section I mean when you get to it), but I hope you enjoy it anyway.
> 
> Also, and this is unrelated to the story, widdershins is a really great word. For those of you who don't know, it's an old Scottish word for counterclockwise. I just got to use it in conversation recently, and I've been kind of buzzing over it for a lil' while, thought I'd share. Oh, and if you're interested in linguistic nerdery, the opposite word (clockwise) is 'Deasil' (pronounced exactly like the type of car fuel). Apparently, you could bring someone good fortune by walking around 'em clockwise a few times. Words, you guys! Weird, but fun!
> 
> Oh, and I have a question for y'all. If you had a time machine about the size of an Iphone that could take you 30,000 years into the past or future, and teleport you to any lat-long coordinates of your choice while doing so, where would you go? I've got a time travel story planned, and I'm curious if there's anything in particular y'all would want from it. (For those of you who've seen this already, I'm just gonna be copy-pasting it onto every post I make until I manage to upload this planned story.)
> 
> Thanks for reading and, as always, please review.
> 
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Nope, this way."

Taylor gulps. "We can totally do this."

"Yep."

Inside, I wasn't so sure, but I really didn't wanna say that to Taylor. Even I knew that shit would be hella demotivating. Then again, we were still alive, so that did give us some points for competence. Either way, we head towards the screams, trying to walk-run in that way unfit people do when they're trying to run for a train. It's a vague attempt at stealth, but it seems to do the trick as we make barely any noise in the first tunnel.

In the second, Taylor stumbles and knocks some pebbles. We immediately stop, but after a few seconds nothing comes flying at us, so we start up again. The sound leads us through another tunnel, at a hella sharp turn to the last that we have to bounce off the wall to make without stopping, which was also completely fucking empty.

How fucking far does shit echo in these damn caves? It's like that shit about whale calls going for miles in the open water, but being basically inaudible above the surface.

We keep following the screams, and I get a perverse little feeling of awesomeness when they start to get louder. I mean, y'know, it's screaming, so whoever it is is probably in a hella shitty situation, but still. I got this.

We run out into the middle of an open chamber, stopping when we see the giant fucking Wendigo crouched on a wall, chittering down at us like that spider from Lord of the Rings (AN: Shelob, in case you're wondering). We also see, standing frozen on the opposite side of the room, two familiar fucking figures that I actually feel hella happy to see.

They look... slightly less pleased, staring in horror at us.

We don't have long to appreciate their expressions before the Wendigo opens its mouth, and the human-like scream we heard echoing through the caverns comes out.

What.

The.

Fuck.

As if these pissed-off murder-geckoes didn't have enough advantages, now they can sound like us? So fucking unfair.

I don't have long to appreciate that suck-fest either, as the Wendigo launches itself off its perch and barrels into me, sending me flying across the room into one of the cavern walls. Taylor screams "Chloe!" as it hits me, and I feel a faint, kinda weird sense of gratitude as I fly through the air.

I land with a hella painful crack as my shoulder cracks against the wall, and I flump on the ground and whimper like a badass whose shoulder hurts like a bitch.

Not for the first time, I question whatever fucking insane decision I made that lead me here, and I'm hella surprised to find I don't actually regret it. Question, definitely, but never actually regret. Which makes me also question my sanity, since I'm lying in a pile of pain on the floor.

Speaking of, I should probably get back to the scary monster thing currently screaming at us in a cramped cavern.

The other three are completely frozen. Except for the fact that there's tears rolling down Taylor's face. She's not bawling or anything, thank fuck, but she's definitely terrified and something in me fucking hates that.

I roll over, bringing the shotgun up in one seamless motion straight out of a Jackie Chan fight sequence, levelling it on the Wendigo and firing. Fire explodes through the tiny space and engulfs the Wendigo, but it barely flinches as it roars in the tiny space. Which kinda freaks me out a little, isn't fire supposed to be a guaranteed kill for these things?

Still, it distracts it for a few seconds, and that's all I need. I roll onto my feet and charge over, grabbing Taylor's hand and grinning wolfishly in her face. She immediately lets me pull her over towards Matt and Vicky, who are staring at me with a mix of fear, awe, and... shit, probably mostly just fear.

I smirk at them and give a little wave. "Hi guys, nice to see ya. Run!"

They look back behind me at the howling Wendigo.

They fucking run.

\--

Run.

The word echoes in my head as my footfalls echo off the walls, all four of us sprinting as hard as possible to get as far from the Wendigo as possible before it shrugs off the fire and comes after us.

Surprisingly, both injured Matt and weighed-down Victoria are keeping up with uninjured and unweighed Taylor and I. We pelt down one tunnel, and I pick one of the next two turnings basically at random and run down it, trusting the others to keep up while I play guide (and guard, I think, remembering the shotgun on my back).

We start to slow by the fifth tunnel, and the screams got quiet, so I call a stop. So long as we keep an ear out and go still if we hear howls, we should be okay to rest a little.

Victoria practically drags Matt over to one of the walls in the little tunnel side-pocket we've stopped in, so they're out of view of the corridor we came from, and leans against it. She doesn't let go of him, and he doesn't resist her doing so, but they're resting as best they can.

Taylor smiles, wandering over to hug me again. "You saved our lives. Again. Thanks, Chloe."

I shrug. "Don't sweat it. It's not like I didn't get something out of it. I was in there too, remember?"

We both grin. "Oh, that reminds me." She reaches up and taps one of the sticks poking out of her backpack. "Sam gave me this."

I tilt my head curiously. "What is it?"

She smirks. "Grappling hook. If we can find a hole in the ceiling, like in that first cave, we can climb out!"

My grin feels like it could rip my face in half. Seriously, how do people do this with their faces all the time? "Taylor fucking Christenson, you are fucking amazing."

She smiles, but it's far sadder than mine. "Thank Sam, not me. She saved us."

I open my mouth to say... fuckin' something, but Matt interrupts. "Where is Sam? Is she..?" He trails off, and I'm not sure if it's because he already knows the answer or he doesn't fucking want to.

Either way, I owe the dude the truth.

"She's gone, Matt. We were being chased by a full fucking nest of the fuckers and she... she stayed behind."

He blinks, and his shoulders noticeably slump. "Damnit. Damnit, damnit, damnit. There's just two of us left now." He mutters something under his breath that I don't catch, but the look on Victoria's face tells me that I'm kinda glad I didn't.

A sudden, sourceless noise from down the corridor makes us all freeze. It's faint, but there's definitely something... nearby. We listen in silence as the faint flapping sounds of feet on stone echo around us, getting closer.

Closer.

Closer.

Fuck it.

"Stay low, stay quiet, and if you hear anything, you fucking freeze, got it?" I hiss in the vague direction of the others in the room with me.

They, hopefully nodding in agreement first, scurry behind me, and we start heading down the tunnel (in the opposite direction of the noise, just to be clear) as quietly as we can manage. Which is pretty quiet, I gotta say. Matt huffs in pain every now and again, and sometimes someone's foot falls a bit too hard on the stone floor, but we still manage to make our way through with barely any noise.

The noise does seem to follow us, though. It never gets close, just sort of... hovers around us in the caves. Feels like it's all around us. I find myself jumping at shadows, jumping hella quietly, but still jumping.

It's maybe ten minutes before something actually happens. We end up in a dipped plateau in a cave, hopping down the short drop from the top part to try access a tunnel jutting off from the bottom part at a hella weird angle. But the angle was up, and one of the few upward tunnels that we'd seen. There were two tunnels from the top part, other than the one we came in through, but both of those dropped almost immediately downwards.

It happens as we're trying to get Matt down the drop. Those weird, distant sounding footsteps disappear, and come more rapidly and way closer, somewhere in one of the side tunnels. The echo makes it hard to tell exactly where the sound came from, but we all immediately stop on hearing it.

Good to know we all got that memo, I guess...

The rapid-fire sound comes again, still sounding like it's all around us. If I didn't know this was only one Wendigo, I'd swear blind there were fucking dozens circling around us. The sound comes again, even more rapidly than last time, and I start...

Y'know that feeling, like you're being watched, but you don't know where from or who by? That's what I felt. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, and I could feel cold sweat in places I didn't even know you could sweat.

"We've gotta move," I hiss. "Now."

The others nod, and we hurry-sneak through helping Matt down, then I hop down, waiting for a minute for Victoria and Matt to settle together again before following the others into the upwards tunnel.

I keep the shotgun primed.

The tunnel goes up for about forty meters, at a pretty steep angle. Before I really realise it, we're almost climbing up an almost vertical tunnel. There's still an incline, but it's steep enough to be an issue. I have to use the butt of the shotgun to push myself off the opposite wall to stop myself falling backwards a couple of times.

I can hear the Wendigo skulking about below us, so I'm pretty motivated not to go back down there. I nod at Taylor next to me, and mouth something about helping Victoria with Matt. Honestly, I was hella preoccupied with the Wendigo, so I don't have a clue what I actually did say. She obeys with a nod and, between the two of them, they manage to keep him going without hurting him too badly.

I find myself being kind of impressed by Victoria. I mean, she kept it together for hours down here with an injured dude, and kept both of them alive long enough for us to find them. I mean, Matt probably helped her work out how to do that, but still. Socialite Bitch makes good.

The last part goes entirely vertical, so I wave to tell the others to hold up. "Let me get up there. I'll anchor a line and drop it down for ya."

They nod, grimacing at the strain of holding their weird three-person support position. I feel a twinge (just a lil' twinge) of sympathy for 'em, so I promise myself I'll get up as quickly as possible. And I do, actually, making up the last ten meters in barely three minutes completely unaided except for my own awesomeness.

After I pull myself up, and check what part of the large, and hella dark, cavern I can actually see, I take one of the pitons from my pack and jam it into the rock, hooking a line to it. I make sure to call out to the others before dropping it.

Generally considered kinda impolite to drop shit on people's heads without letting 'em know first, right?

It takes a lot of maneouvring to get Matt up without knocking Taylor or Victoria back down to the bottom, but somehow we manage it, and I get kinda handsy with the dude as I roll him over the edge. He grits his teeth to hold back a moan of pain when his back flops down onto the stone, but at least he's up. "Come on, dude," I mutter, hooking my arms under his shoulders and trying to tug him away from the edge. "You're heavy as shit and I cannot move you if you don't fucking help."

Matt chuckles darkly, not sure what at, "Sorry to be an inconvenience, Chloe. Give me a second, or I'm going to end up screaming and bringing every Wendigo in the area down on us."

Okay, yeah, so that's a fair point. I give him a minute before dragging him to the side and reaching a hand down to pull Taylor, then Victoria up onto the ledge.

We leave the rope in, it'd make too much noise to pull out again, and move out into the cavern.

Oh, great. Another fucking graveyard.

This one looks different to the colonist cave though. The bone tents look... sturdier, I guess. They're still rotted, and what still exists is barely holding together, but there's something about the construction that makes them look firmer.

We move further in, towards the middle. Like last time, there's a wrecked campfire occupying the centre of the cavern, although this one is way larger than the one the colonists had. It looks like it held something the size of a Gondor beacon. I look up to the ceiling, trying to find some kind of chimney for the smoke and...

Holy shit.

The ceiling was covered in drawings. I vaguely registered the hole in the centre of the roof, but most of my attention was immediately grabbed by the drawings. I recognised a couple of the bigger ones, a deer skull (like the one on my lookout, and in the log cabin), and one that looked like a bear-print over the outline of a tree. I wasn't sure where I knew the second one from, but I'd definitely seen it somewhere.

I nudge Matt and point upwards, watching his face twist in understanding as he takes in the artwork. "It's a Ritual Cave," he murmurs. "I haven't seen one of these in a while."

I eye him questioningly, and he elaborates. "Native American Tribes had... well, they were kind of exiles from their faith, bad magic-users who used the power taught to them by the spirits for their own selfish ends. These things," he points to the weird bone-tents "are Hogan, they're like Navajo homes, but with some protections built in. The bones kind of... pervert that protection, and it all feeds together to fuel some... dark rituals."

I snort. "Magic? Seriously, dude?"

He shrugs. "I didn't say I believed in it. It's just a room with some pretty pictures and creepy, fucked-up buildings to me. But some of the legends say that the witches in these places taught their evil to others, and that's part of where the skinwalkers came from."

"Skinwalkers?"

"Evil Navajo witches. We got a crash course in Dine Mythology after we helped a Shaman excise some Wendigoes from his tribal lands. Saved a few casinos from getting eaten alive." He grins. "That was a fun one; we got to-" He stops. "Not really the time. Anyway, yeah. These things are culturally cool, but that's about it." He moves his head about a little, then suddenly raises an arm to point at one of the tents. "There should be a lectern in there, with a book inside. It's where the witch would've lived."

I scurry in, poking through the rot and wreckage trying to find the lectern. Until I realise that I have no fucking idea what a lectern is and poke my head out through a giant hole in one of the fur walls to ask.

Matt quickly fills me in, and I get back to searching, only really pausing when I hear Taylor say she's gonna poke around and check for a way out. Matt, the smart, sensible fucker that he is, doesn't give her a gun. Giving untrained newbs firearms and sending them out into stressful situations is a recipe for fucking disaster.

Anyway, I get back to searching, and quickly find the box-on-a-stick that Matt told me to look for. I pull it open and find a weird looking book. It was... sort of multiple colours, and made of a leathery substance that carefully did not think about too closely. I wander out and wave it at Matt. "Found this in the lectern thing. What is it?"

Victoria smirks. "We call that a book, Chloe. They're amazing things, they have words in them, and information, and-" She trails off into a laugh when I glare at her.

Matt chuckles. "It's something that'll help me learn how old this place is."

I tilt my head. "How? And... y'know, why does that matter?"

"The Navajo didn't have a written language until missionaries in the 1800s started making them up. But they all made up something different, so there were too many to be useful. Some guy in the 1930s made a single one up. So, the language used will give us the ballpark of how old this place is. If we can find out whether this place is older or younger than the colonist cave, it might give us a better idea of what happened here." (AN1)

I shrug and pass the book over. "Cool. Knock yourself out."

He raises an eyebrow at me, vaguely wobbling the arm that's hung over Victoria's shoulder. "Uh, thanks. Kinda got my hands full at the moment."

"I think my hands are fuller, you inconsiderate oaf," Victoria snarks. She might have a point. He's got one arm over her shoulder, she's using both to keep him upright right now.

Matt just grins good-naturedly. "Right. Sorry, Tori."

'Tori'?

She flushes, but powers through and keeps talking with a perfectly even voice. "Let's lean against the rockface over there. That way, I can stop using both hands and we can both hold the book."

Matt shrugs amicably, "Sure." and they start to head over. I follow 'em, flicking through the book-thing. Kinda pointless, since I didn't understand a word, but they were taking a while and I needed to kill some damn time.

Suddenly, a scream echoed through the cavern. We all immediately froze, before I recognised it. "Taylor!" I sprint off into the cavern without another thought, trying to find her.

"Taylor?" I call out again, completely ignoring the fact that there could be a GAW (Giant-Ass Wendigo) around.

"Taylor!?" I'm getting desperate now. Where the fuck is she?

After a few painful fucking minutes of silence that was only broken by me, dumbass #1, & Matt shouting Taylor's name, I catch a small voice say "Sorry, guys. I'm here."

"Taylor?" I call out. "Where are you?"

"I'm here, Chloe."

The voice is coming from another hidden side-passage. The idiot must've tried to use it without checking with us. Fuck, when I find her, she's going to fucking wish the Wendigoes had found her first!

I poke my head in the passage, taking a look around with my torch. The immediate bit I look into was empty, just leading up to a bend about twenty meters opposite to me. "Taylor? You in here?"

"Chloe?" The voice echoes down the tunnel, from just around the bend. I sigh, walking along. She probably got freaked out by something and tripped. That's gonna be fucking annoying. Two people with injured legs is gonna mean our already hella slow pace is gonna get even fucking slower.

I grumble the whole way to the bend, walking around it to find...

Without warning, two long arms wrap around my neck and shoulders and I instinctively push backwards off the floor with my leg, slamming whatever's on my back into the wall just in time to hear a squeal and a pained-sounding "Chloe! Stop! It's me!" just as the arms let go and Taylor flops onto the floor with a groan of pain. "Fucking ow! What did you do that for?"

I turn around and I glare at her. "You jumped on my back with no fucking warning!" That's when it hits me, how fucking close what I just did was. "I thought you were a fucking Wendigo, dumbass!" I thwack her on the shoulder once, getting another ow for my suffering, before helping her up. "What happened?"

"Uh," She rubs the back of her neck sheepishly, wincing when she raises her hopefully-bruised-to-fuck arm. "There was a bat."

I eye her as my jaw drops open. "A bat?"

She nods, red spreading up both her cheeks and down onto her neck. "It scared the crap out of me, Chloe! I jumped, and banged my head."

I immediately start to move around her to look at the back of her head, but she waves me back. "It's fine now. I don't feel dizzy anymore, not after..." She gestures to her shoulder. "That. Ow, by the way."

I grin. "You totally deserved it. Glad you're not dead, though."

She tilts her head, frowning at me for a second, before her face lights up with a wide smile. "Aww, Chloe! Were you worried about me?"

"Pfft. No. You fucking wish."

She grins, poking at me cajolingly.

I hate cajoling.

"You were! You thought I was hurt and you came to help!"

I roll my eyes. "Don't flatter yourself, dude. I just remembered all the paperwork I'd have to fill out if you died out here."

After a second, she reaches over and hugs me tightly, murmuring in my ear "Don't worry, Chloe. I won't tell anyone you're really a softie."

I open my mouth to retort back when another scream echoes through the caverns.

I stop.

"That's not you, right?"

"No."

"Cool."

I pause.

"Run."

We turn and sprint back down the corridor, hurrying when we hear it scream again. We break out into the evil witch lair cavern and see the GAW poking its head up out of the tunnel we climbed in here from, howling into the room. Matt and Victoria are frozen off to its left, doing their best not to attract its attention.

Without even thinking, I immediately stop... just in time for Taylor to slam into my back and knock us both to the floor. The Wendigo howls and launches itself out of the tunnel at us, and I feel the air swirl over my head as it leaps through where I was just standing.

Never thought I'd be grateful for Taylor's clumsiness, but here we are, I guess.

I roll into the fall and come up standing, fumbling to get the shotgun pointed in the direction of the Wendigo. The big ugly thing was just standing there, head flicking about as it tried to find us, so...

Perfect shot.

I blast at the thing, knocking it back into a patch of bone-tents and setting the whole fucking mess of shit on fire.

As it screams, another howl answers. Then another. And another. And then even more. Wendigoes drift in from a dozen hidden tunnels we hadn't spotted, on the walls, on the ground, on the ceiling... These ones looked... different from the other Wendigoes. The ones in the colonist nest were smaller and lighter skinned than these ones. Some of these ones even have... weird sort-of-clothes. Like. whatever'd be left of a furry onesie after the Hulk burst out of it.

Huh.

Maybe they're, like, different breeds? Like dogs.

I edge back from the Wendigo towards Taylor, scooping her up with one arm and dropping her onto her feet next to me. We go back-to-back and mutter to each other as we watch the new arrivals creep into the cave. "Oh shit."

"Yeah. Is there a clear way out?"

I snort. "Has there ever been?"

She grins back at me over her shoulder. "Distraction?"

I nod. "Distraction."

As slowly and slyly as possible, Taylor reaches up and pulls a couple of bottles out of her pack. After a second to grab a rag, she holds out a hand for my lighter. I pass it over with a smile.

I watch as the molotov cocktails soar through the air, spreading fire across a whole bunch of the tents on both sides of us. The new Wendigoes howl as the fire spreads across the tents like... well... like fire.

I take advantage of the distraction to whirl around and grab Taylor, then hurry us both over to Victoria and Matt, who's staring at the both of us in pure fucking horror. "What did you do?"

Before I can say anything, Taylor blurts out "Saved our fucking lives. You're welcome. Now run!"

They immediately sprint for the nearest cave exit. I just stand there for a few seconds, feeling the pride wash over me, before following after 'em.

My lil' baby dumbass is all grown up. I might cry.

\--

Wow. Our lead doesn't last long. The Wendigoes come after us pretty quickly, the GAW at the head of the pack. Although, I don't actually think they were a pack. The GAW kept knocking back any of the fur-wearing Wendigoes (did Wendigoes have, like, a fashion thing going?) that tried to get past it.

They didn't try very hard. It knocked them back a lot.

Luckily, we manage not to die. That was pretty neat. Between me shooting (I am getting really good with this shotgun) and the rest of them throwing shit every now and again, we get to stay ahead of the herd. Pack. Whatever.

We take 'em through a bunch of tunnels and caves, which is hella freaky. They don't come at us normally, on the ground, like a wolf pack of whatever would. They come at us from every fucking surface. Well, the GAW stays on the ground, but the rest of 'em skitter over all the walls and ceilings of the tunnels and caverns like ants until we can barely see 'em, just the Wendigoes.

Un-fucking-fortunately, we were running with an injured dude so, as you'd probably guess, it's not long before he stops being able to keep up and eats dirt. Rock. Whatever.

As Matt falls, the Wendigoes suddenly surge forward toward us. I blast away at 'em, but it doesn't stop them, just sorta knocks a couple back, but any that do get knocked are immediately replaced by the one behind. Kinda like a Hydra, but if it was a swarm of angry murder-geckos wearing fursuits.

Victoria goes down with Matt, and Taylor heads over to help them up as I keep the Wendigoes back, just firing wildly into the group. It's not like I could miss, so fire discipline isn't really important. My wild shooting doesn't keep them back for long though. My shotgun literally can't fire enough bullets to hit enough of them to stop them catching up; barely two minutes after Matt falls, the first Wendigo reaches me, leaping down from the ceiling.

One claw swipes down at me, moving so fast I barely see it in time, dodging more on instinct than intent, and firing straight up into the thing's belly, burning it up almost instantly. The next one comes in from my right, leaving it perfectly open for a shotgun butt to the face. So I swing, knocking it back before swinging the shotgun around with one hand to fire off a slug of flame into its head.

"Goddamn, I am a badass!" I woop, as I fire another round into the next Wendigo to leap at me, incinerating it in mid-air. The ashes scatter over me in a cloud of ick as I suddenly get a possibly, maybe, totally terrible idea.

Huh...

Falling shit...

After loosing off another few rounds into the next swarm, giving me a couple seconds of freedom, I point the shotgun up at the ceiling of the tunnel and fire a dozen shots into the roof, sending rock and dust and shit everywhere as the tunnel caves in.

One of the Wendigoes, caught in mid leap, screams as the falling rock splatters it all over the ground. A few of the others on the walls and ceiling get buried in the landslide, covered in big-ass rock chunks and tinier bits of stone until all that's left (that we can see) is a single Wendigo head poking out of the debris at about my chest height.

So, about twice Max's height, apparently.

I spin around and grin at the others, who're all doing that thing again where they stare and think about how awesome I am. Or maybe just looking at all the icky Wendigo bits I'm covered in. I shake my leg a little to dislodge the clawed arm that'd apparently managed to catch my foot just as the rocks fell on it.

"You guys need a minute to appreciate how fucking cool that was?"

Taylor leaps up and runs over to me, throwing her arms around me and laughing. "That was fucking awesomesauce! Dude, how did you even-"

"Ahem."

Taylor turns back sheepishly as Victoria waves to the now even-more-injured Matt. Looks like whatever he and Vicky did to keep his leg in one piece got fucked up in the fall and he is apparently bleeding.

A lot.

He's barely making a sound though, which is hella impressive. Kinda makes me doubt my own badassitude, for a second, anyway. I am pretty awesome. As Taylor heads back over to help fix his leg, I wander over to the rockwall to check out my handiwork.

There's a few limbs still twitching, so I take a swing at them. They stop, after that.

I look at the head, with its lolling tongue, and its dead, white eyes, and grin. "Not so scary now, are ya?" I lean in, trying to get a closer look at its teeth (they were all jagged and weird, like those... things from Steph's D&D game. What were they called? Forks? Dorks? Shit, I don't remember).

The eyes suddenly center on me and the creature howls, snapping its jaw at me. I fall back on my ass, scurrying away from the thing until I'm next to Matt on the ground. Taylor and Victoria are both looking at me, then back to the wall in alarm. "What? What was it? Are they coming through?"

I breath deep, blinking and trying to focus on the head.

It's...

The tongue was still lolling.

The eyes were still dead.

It hadn't...

I shake my head. Come on, Price. "It's... It's nothing. Just tripped."

They eye me, sceptical, but leave it alone. You don't fuck with a crazy chick with a shotgun. And it's amazing how often that rule has come in handy in my life thus far.

I pull myself up, looking back down at Matt. "Come on, dude. Let's get you up. We gotta get outta here."

\--

AN1 - #Historico-LingualArcheologyFTW!


	19. Last Moments

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter XIX: Last Moments  
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> AN:  
> Hey there, Fan-fic-folks!
> 
> So, you can blame this update being so late on this story. I've been retweaking the second scene (you'll know which one I mean when you get to it) for almost the entirety of last week straight. I think I've got something I'm happy with now, but I'm also just tired of looking at it, so I'm uploading now. Let me know what you think. 
> 
> Thanks for reading and, as always, please review.
> 
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Matt, after we got him up, seemed no worse than before (y'know, the whole broken leg thing), so we kept going. 

Howls and screams follow us down, bouncing off the walls like the ball in Pong. But, hella weirdly, no Wendigoes.

And then suddenly... nothing. 

I mouth over at Taylor. "I think we lost them." 

She shakes her head, giving me a panicked look. "No way. We're being hunted." 

We end up in a massive cavern, so big and so dark that we could barely see the walls and ceiling from the entrance we ran in. The main part of the cavern was dominated by a... a hill, I guess? Either that or just a really big stalag-thingy. I spotted another tunnel entrance about halfway up the closest side to us and pointed to it with the shotgun and hissed. "In there!"

Without a comment, the others all run for the entrance, and I take the rear, keeping the barrel of my shotgun levelled on the tunnel behind us. We make it to the tunnel in a few seconds, and still nothing. 

Although, it wasn't actually a tunnel. Turns out, it was just a pocket in the hill, open up at the top. (AN: A caldera, if you want the technical term.) The others crowd in, Taylor to one side, Matt and Vicky to the other, and I stick to the entryway. I put my back against one side, and point my shotgun out into the dark. And then, we wait.

...

Uh.

...

Where the fuck are they?

...

The cavern is almost painfully silent. You could hear a pin drop. If, y'know, anyone had a pin to drop. Never got that phrase. Why would anyone drop a fuckin' pin? 

I poke my head out and look around. Left, nothing. Right, still nothing. I couldn't really see behind the hill, but I was pretty sure they weren't there. Besides, they'd have to...

They'd.

Have.

To.

Oh, fuck. 

I get that same idea again and inwardly groan. Please, please, please don't be... "Oh, you cannot be fucking serious! Again?!"

They're on the ceiling. Creeping out of holes I hadn't seen before, like ants pouring out of honeycomb. 

As I yell up at them, they scream down at us, and the entire top of the caldera was suddenly filled with screeching, writhing Wendigoes. I fire up as fast as I can, yelling to the others "Fucking go!"

Taylor looks, hella ashen, past me at the cavern outside, her mouth just moving uselessly as she tries to speak. 

"What?!" I yell at her, still shooting. 

She just points. 

Standing in the middle of the cavern outside, surrounding by (hey, the colonist Wendigoes are here!) fighting Wendigoes, the lighter brown tribal Wendigoes dashing around the larger, but stronger colonist ones, was the Giant-Ass Wendigo. And that motherfucker was staring right at us. 

As Taylor raises her hand, it howls, and charges right for us. 

I think for a moment, about Rachel, and about Max, and about Sam, and about Matt and Taylor and Victoria. I step out, into the entryway, never letting up on the shotgun, and start blasting away, flipping and whirling the thing around to cover both the front entrance and the roof/lack thereof. 

Not a single Wendigo got past me, and I left dozens of the fuckers screaming and burning around us. I really fucking love this Dragon's Breath shit. 

These fucking things dare to-

What..?

I look down and see a hella long, hella thin claw sticking through my chest. Almost in slow motion, it tears through my body, and I watch as my skin parts before it like ice before a ship. Even as I drop to the floor I never, ever let go of the shotgun. 

\--

"Chloe! Chloe!" 

I swipe at whoever has the fucking gall to try wake me up so damn-

Oh. 

Images flick through my head as my brain tries to make sense of what the fuck just happened.

Well. I'm alive.

How am I alive?

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, although my ass certainly is - damned hard fucking stone floor - but I'm definitely confused. 

Only one way to find out, I guess.

I open my eyes, and sit straight up, wincing as my head collides with something attached to whoever was trying to wake me. A familiar voice squeaks as it does, and a weight suddenly presses down on my apparently unpierced chest. I blink as my vision clears and I...

"Rachel?"

The familiar blonde smiles down at me through her obvious wince. "Hi Chloe. Having fun?"

I grin as my hands snake up to her hips and squeeze, feeling the warmth and weight of her. She's really here..? "I am now."

She smirks, sticks out her tongue teasingly. "Charmer."

I shrug. "Guilty."

I stare up at her, just... taking her in. I kinda forgot, for a little while, just how much I missed her. Speaking of... "So, how are you here?"

She tilts her head, a cute little frown of confusion on her face that clears into a joking smile. "Um, you asked me to move in, and I, benevolent and fine goddess that I am, said yes. Unless you mean today, in which case I got here on the bike. I know we said we'd wait to do anniversary things 'til this weekend, but I couldn't wait, so I took the day off."

I blink. Oh. We're in our living room. On the couch. 

That's... 

"You're alive too then, huh?" I blurt out. Kinda curious about the answer, honestly. Was that shit all... was Max... and Taylor..? 

She laughs. "Come on, Chloe. I know I've been working a lot recently, but I'm still breathing. I'm still here." She rolls her hips on top of me, and I choke on a breath as she leans in and murmurs. "Can't you feel me?" 

Fucking.

Tease. 

And no help whatsoever. I still couldn't tell if I was dreaming. Can you dream when you're dead? Shit. Maybe that's all that Heaven shit is. Just dreams in the dark of death. 

Well. That got... (poetic?) depressing. 

I blink, and my eyes go uncomfortably distant as the room blurs around me. "I... I was dreaming..."

She smirks. "Oh? Anything... interesting?"

I shake my head. "Bad dream. Sorta. It was... weird."

She tilts her head, and the tease melts away to just concern. "Tell me about it?"

And so I do. The whole fucking story, weird flirtation shit with Max and Taylor included. She laughs at my falls, smiles sadly at my tragedies, and just... listens in that way only Rachel ever could. Like you were centre of her universe, and nothing else mattered but keeping her eyes in yours. 

"You should really write that down." She smiles. "People would queue round the block to buy that story." Her smile turns into a grin. "The ending could use a bit of work, but waking up to me should definitely stay in there."

I roll my eyes and shove her back gently as she winks. "Hardy har." 

I get a flash of Sam (brave, stupid Sam) going down in her blaze of glory, and shiver. Rachel notices, of course she notices, and leans in closer, wrapping her arms around me. "So. It's our anniversary. What do you want to do today?"

I think for a second, really think, and immediately know. "Can we just sorta... stay here for a while? I think I need to snuggle something."

"Well," Rachel grins. "I'm always down to snuggle." She rolls down next to me, and I wrap my arms around her. Rach wriggles a bit, as always, when she's the little spoon, but she indulges me. 

"Missed you, Rach" I mumble, pulling her closer. 

"When did you get so sappy?" She twists around, nips at my neck and giggles when I shiver. "Missed you too." She lies back and, between the warmth and the relief and the confusion, I find myself drifting off to sleep. 

I blink awake, and the room was dark. Only a little bit of moonlight coming through the window let me see at all. Rachel was still next to me, her long blonde hair making a hella nice contrast with the black leather sofa (should not have slept on this fucker, jeez. I'm sticking like a bitch) beneath us. 

I lean back down and pull her closer, breathing in that smell; apples and white roses. I'd be fuckin hard-pressed to pick a favourite thing about Rach, but that'd probably be one of the main contenders. Every time I picked up that scent, it just felt like... home. 

I must've been loud and disturbed her, because when I move closer she mutters under her breath, and lets out a low keening sound and wriggles against me. I keep a tight hold on her though, still not quite believing this could be real. Hella hoping, but... yeah. 

I scream as nails begin to dig into my arm, hard. "Rach, fucking stop, I..."

She looks up, and her eyes and her teeth were pure white and razor sharp and ripping into me again and again and- 

\--

"Chloe! Chloe" 

Seriously?

After I take a second to mull over that subconscious acid trip (I've never actually done acid. Weed was more than enough for me.), I blink open my eyes to see Taylor looking down at me in concern. "Are you okay?"

"Is my chest open?"

She blinks. "Um. No?"

"Cool. Then I'm okay. Back hurts like a bitch though, so..." When she doesn't move, I roll my eyes. "Help me up, dude."

She blinks again, "Oh. Oh! Sorry." and moves to help me up. 

Great. Caves, again. Wait. I frown as I recognise the caved-in tunnel. "What the hell?"

Victoria frowns, looking behind her at the cave-in. The head, that'd screamed at me before, was absent. "What? Did you see something?"

I shake my head. "I... I don't know. What happened?"

The frown moves to me. "Don't you remember? You blocked off the tunnel, stopped the herd from coming after us. Then you just sort of..." She waves the hand not keeping Matt upright. "fell down."

"Fell down?"

Taylor nods, eyeing me with concern. That wasn't right. They shouldn't be concerned about me. "Are you... okay?" She tries.

I shrug it off. "I'm fine. Just overwhelmed by my own badassitude, I guess." I notice that, whatever had happened, I still hadn't let go of the shotgun. Apparently even my weird-ass hallucinations got that one right. 

Everyone eyes me sceptically, so I throw one hand up in the air and say, as irritably as I can "We really don't have the time to fuck around here. I definitely didn't kill the whole horde, so they're just gonna take the long way round to get at us again."

Taylor looked like she was gonna insist on something, but I had a point and she hella knew it. So, I clapped my hands together, clacking my busted watch against the side of the shotgun, and started walking. "Come on. Let's get a move on. Time's a-hella-wasting!"

\--

The journey ahead of us was... weird. I remembered tunnels that weren't there, and didn't know tunnels that were. Caverns were way larger in my head than in reality. It... threw me, just a bit, but apparently Taylor was still keeping an eye on me. Whenever I started following the directions in my head, she wordlessly steered me back on course before I could, y'know, walk into walls. 

I made sure to remember to say thanks for that, whenever we got out. 

Not if. Never if.

The tunnel we end up in, long and tight, kept twisting and turning until I wasn't even sure which way we were going. Up and down and left and right and back. Taylor had to go back and help Vicky out with Matt for most of it, leaving me taking point. Is that the phrase? For like, leading the way, or whatever? 

Eh. It'll do. Bigger problems, Price. 

The Wendigoes never reappear, but I swear I hear the soft padding of footsteps in the distant caves around us. Sound carries pretty fucking far, in the silence and the deep, so I was never sure how they close they came. I'm still not. 

Between the two of them helping Matt and me with my epic/slightly wrong sense of direction, we make pretty good time and cover a lot of distance hella quickly. I think. Time was a little weird down here, but I thought I had a pretty good idea of it, even if I was losing my sense of direction. The inclines seemed like declines, left was right in my memory and forwards was back and backwards was forwards. 

Weird, I know, but hey. I was in a pretty weird situation. Every person has the right to go a little crazy in situations like these. Right? It's surprising how comforting being crazy was. Meant the weirdness was just that, and nothing more. Sure, there were monsters here, but those were around in the real world too; people like the Prescotts, who got away with fucking everything, thinking they were in the right all the while. 

Before I know it... I start to recognise the landscape. A familiar tunnel, leading into a familiar cavern. I swear quietly as memory starts to pop into my head. Not quietly enough, though. Taylor hears me and cocks her head. "Chloe? Are you okay?"

Sweet kid. Asks about me before the situation. I have got to get it right this time. For her, if no-one else. "It's fine. Can just see a big-ass cave ahead. Gotta get through it quick. We don't wanna get caught in a wide open space like that with the Wendigoes, right?"

She grins. "Right. Quick and quiet or just quick?"

I shrug. "Probably quiet, but quick is more important. Those things are somewhere around us."

She nods, looking nervously about, but there's a determination in her eyes and jaw that makes me grin. Go Taylor. "We can do this, right Chloe?" 

"Damn right we can. They haven't gotten us yet, right?" 

Taylor's responding grin is wider than my own. Even Matt seems to get upbeat from my confidence. Fake it till you make it, right? 

Victoria just looks between the three of us smiling crazy people and sighs. "You're insane." 

I turn the grin on her. "You're just working this out now?" 

It takes a second, but eventually even she smiles too. "You make a fair point, Chloe." 

I poke my head in, carefully avoiding looking up. Not thinking about it, not yet. Nope. The cavern was exactly as I remembered, and then it wasn't, and then it was. I shook my head, and whatever was in my head cleared out for what was coming in through my eyes. "Don't bother with the hill, it's a dead-end." 

Victoria frowns at me. "How can you possibly know that?" 

I shrug. "No idea. But I've gotten us this far, right?" I smirk at her. "Trust me." 

She grumbles, but nods. Awesomesauce. "Keep going. There's gotta be an exit somewhere on the other side." 

Victoria eyes me, but still stays quiet and grumbly. Excellent. "Right. Come on then. Before we chicken out." I start out into the dark. Taylor goes to my left, Victoria and Matt to my right. I can feel their eyes on me, and it's... comforting. Now that is crazy. Who'da thunk I'd actually start to kinda like the dumbasses? I sure didn't. 

My internal rambling was interrupted by the sudden looming of the main hill. It was... smaller, than I remembered. More worn. And it was covered in symbols. Some carved, some painted, some I recognised, most I didn't. It... I'm not gonna deny it, it distracted the hell out of me. And shit, it fuckin' tempted me. 

Before I knew it, I was creeping up the incline, the- the steps? towards the entry I'd died in before. Only, it wasn't the same entry. Before, it was a rough stone thing, all natural rock. Between then, whenever then was, and now, someone had carved it. The entire thing was covered in depictions of things that it almost hurt to look at, all spirals and angles and wrong. It made me think of godawful neverending hunger, of the victory of a kill after a long hunt, of the feeling you get when curling up in front of a warm fire with someone you love. Whatever it was, it was primal, it was old, malevolent, and I felt like I understood every last fucking curl. 

I reached out, and I touched the archway. 

The symbols flared with a blood-red light that spread out from my hand to the rest of the archway, then to the rest of the hill as the symbols over the entire cavern lit up with brilliant light. 

I didn't remember them being there, but somehow they felt right. 

As the entire cavern fills, becoming almost blinding, there's a sudden flash; it was brighter and darker than anything I'd seen, and I could've sworn I felt the light through every bit of me. 

The last thing I thought of, before I passed out, was that this was how Frodo must've felt when the Eye turned on him. 

Completely. Fucking. Terrified. 

\--

I woke up with back pain. Again. Fucking seriously? I roll over with a groan, putting a hand out to stop myself from hitting a wall I didn't know was there, and then I opened my eyes. 

I was still in the cavern, but it was dark. 

"Taylor?"

Nothing.

"Matt?"

Nothing.

"Icky Vicky?" 

Nothing.

Yep. Definitely alone.

I sit up and I take a look around. I was sitting down on the flat of the cavern, off to the left where I could see both the entrance to the hill and the entrance to the cavern itself. I stay still for a few seconds, trying to work out if something happened again. Nobody was around, and I'd just seen some crazy shit, so I'm probably hallucinating again. 

Just another day at the office, apparently. 

Still had the shotgun though. That was pretty sweet. 

I stand up. 

The cavern air felt cold and still around me, even while I moved through it. A voice in my head said this was because I wasn't really moving through it.

I frowned for a second. Hello? Voice?

Hello, Child. Be silent now, it said, and I was silent.

The sudden echo of hurrying footsteps stopped me from trying to say anything. Or, y'know, moving. Habits of a couple-of-days-time, I guess. Besides, the voices in my head could wait while I ran away from Wendigoes. Hard to be a voice in a head that isn't attached to a body anymore. It wasn't a Wendigo, though. It was a dude, tall and worried-looking. He was dressed in furs and leather and clutching a familiar book, the one that I'd pulled out of the bone and skin tent back in the symbol cave. He scurried up the hill to the archway, careful not to touch it, and looking into every dark corner as he went. 

I followed him up into the cave, and blinked as I took it in. The walls were covered in skins and bones. Every one was covered in symbols, painted in an almost dazzling mix of colours. For a faint second, I grinned, thinking of the doodles all over my room back at Joyce's place. There was a stone table in the middle of the small cave, and the man dropped the book on top of it, flicking it open and flicking through it searching for something. 

After a half minute, he found it and, after pausing to take out a small chain of what I somehow knew were dried and blood-covered berries, began to read. The words didn't make sense at first, but the voice leant me a dictionary. 

"Brush away the sorrow, and the tears, life is not over, but begins anew."

The runes in the table began to light up, but in blue not red. 

"The forest cries out for harmony, a peace that only you, part of the First, provide."

The blue spreads to the rest of the room.

"Biih, the guardian, the doe, come to me!"

The rest of the cavern lights up, and suddenly more shouts echo up to us. Footfalls in the deep. The man mutters something under his breath about not having enough time, and fuckin' amen to that, and starts chanting faster. As he speeds up, the blue light starts to come together above the table to form a shape. 

It had four legs, a head, and... Oh. It's a deer. 

A doe, actually. The voice in my head corrects. 

Thanks, I guess. 

Sure.

The man reaches up and runs a hand through it's fur with almost worshipful reverence. "Thank you. I..." He sighs. "I'm sorry." In one smooth movement, he reaches behind him and pulls a wicked looking knife, then jams it into the heart of the creature. The blue light gets so much brighter, but then man doesn't let up as he twists the knife and the doe screams, louder than any Wendigo I'd heard, until it suddenly falls silent. 

He pulls out the knife and the doe falls, landing on the table. The blood leaking from it seeps into the table and the blue turns to the blood-red I'd seen before.

He takes a thumb and wipes it along the blade, drawing a line of blood over his right eyebrow, then another straight down from below his left eye. Then, he starts to chant again.

"The vengeance of the forest upon you, the harmony of the Way against you," 

The red symbols start to pulse, like a heartbeat, harder and harder as he continues to chant. 

"For your crimes, there can be no greater sentence than that which the spirits provide." 

Those shouts from before were louder, now. I could hear the footsteps like marbles down a wooden staircase. 

"Awaken, Mahingan, the Wolf that will bleed these things of all they are worth!"

The bloody corpse of the doe on the table starts to glow as something pulls itself out of it, like it's trying to tear its way through a hundred layers of cellophane. The deer's (doe's, sorry!) fur starts to stretch and form into a snout, until it suddenly bursts open and scatters gore all over the room and a full fucking wolf climbs out of the doe like a fucking xenomorph. 

I stare, open mouthed at... that. 

The man takes a few breaths, eyeing the wolf nervously. If it cared, it didn't show it, staring impassively back. 

The man raises the knife again, this time over his own chest, and keeps chanting. 

"For the innocent they've hurt, and the sacrilege I have done here, a gift of blood to rise the hunger." 

He stretches out and starts to plunge the knife towards his chest when another voice calls out. "Stop, Powwaw! Before you make things worse for us all!" 

The man, Powwaw (weird name), sighs, then turns back to the cavern as a dozen men with spears and axes swarm in. They're all dressed like he is and all Native American. Powwaw calls out to them. "You cannot stop this, Tokala. The invaders have brought this upon themselves."

"No! You bring it down upon them. You desecrate this site for your own rage, your own hunger for revenge!" Tokala retorts, raising his spear. "I am sorry for what happened, old friend, but this is not a just Way." 

Powwaw flinches, looking almost genuinely regretful. "It is the only just Way for those who took my daughter from this world. I am sorry, too." He raises the knife and stabs himself into the chest barely moments after he finishes speaking. 

Tokala's mouth drops open in disbelief and his bunch all raise their weapons as Powwaw's body starts to change. His hair falls out, his skin and eyes turn pale, and his teeth become sharp as razors. He looks up and suddenly the Giant Ass Wendigo is crammed into this tiny space with me. The wolf behind it howls and the GAW joins it, all rage and hunger and I still understand every last bit of it. 

He rips apart the dozen tribesmen in as many seconds, tearing Tokala's head from his body and tossing it back for the wolf, which simply eyes the head from its spot on the table.

The Wendigo looks at the carnage around it almost wistful, sad, and opens its mouth. The voice that came out was wrong, grating metal on metal, and it echoes throughout the hall as the vision fades. "A gift of blood to rise the hunger..." 

As I sit in pure black, the voice in my head takes over.

Pay attention, child, for you shall fix the mistakes of the past, and the past shall fix mistakes of yours. 

I blink. Well, I think I blink. Kinda hard to tell when it's as black with your eyes open as it is with them closed. 

What?

The voice sighs in irritation. Oh, you'll work it out. 

\--

Yet again, I'm on the floor, and yet again, my back hurts. I'm starting to get really pissed off with these hallucinations. I let out a groan and a long, drawn out "Shiiiiiiiit." as I sit up and open my eyes to find Taylor, Victoria, and Matt staring at me in the cave-in tunnel yet again. 

I smile, deciding to take the lead this time. "Hi guys. You okay?" 

Victoria's mouth drops open. "You, I... what is wrong with you?" 

I shrug. "If you really want the whole list, we're gonna be here a long fucking time, Vicky." I'm not really concentrating on the conversation, I'm still thinking over the weird hallucination-vision thing. Are visions a thing? It seemed like a vision. My imagination really isn't that good. And there were way fewer tits than in my usual daydreams. 

She shakes her head, and I pull myself up with the shotgun. I feel slightly dizzy when I make it to being stood up, but a quick shake of the head cle- actually, it makes it worse, but I wasn't gonna tell anyone that. Except the voices in my head, I guess. You still here, voice? No? Guess not. 

I lead the others out of the tunnel and through more. It was a mix of those I remembered and those I didn't. I didn't need Taylor this time, though. The voice picked up the mapreading every time I started to get lost. The others were looking at me, worried, but I ignored them.

I needed to get through this time. 

Now I knew what I needed to do. 

We head through a different cavern, this time. No hill, no symbols, no dead Navajo, nothing.

The caves are quiet around us as we walk, the only sounds being our very quiet steps and the very loud thoughts of the people behind me. And all of them were saying I was crazy. Actually, that was probably true, even before I started hallucinating nightmares within nightmares. 

I can feel when we get closer to the surface. Not sure how, but I can. It's like air on my face, but without the air or the face. 

Okay, so it's not like air on my face, but that's the best explanation I have. Not exactly a fucking wordsmith here, am I? (AN: #Meta) We head up, on a spiralling incline up and up and up, until we find a cave with actual sunlight.

I grin.

Actual Fucking Sunlight! 

"Booyah, Wendigoes! Score one for-" 

"Uh- Chloe."

I turn, mid-celebration, and look over at Victoria. "Yeah?" 

"Wendigoes." She gives me a 'what-the-fuck-are-you-doing-that's-insane-why-are-you-doing-that' sort of look. "Shouting isn't the best idea, and we really need to get out of here, don't we?"

The others nod, and I pull out my trusty map with a sigh. Spoilsports. Now we're not in deep unexplored bullshit caverns, the map would actually be useful, so... uh... oh shit, where are we? Oh, right. Here. I run my finger along the map, trying to find the... "Oh. Of-fucking-course. It had to be there, I guess." 

"What's wrong, Chloe? Where are we?" 

I grin over at Taylor. "We're right under my fucking lookout. There's a cave exit that we should be able to get through, so it should be pretty easy going now. Thank fuck."

A long, hungry scream echoes through the caves, and I know the GAW is on our tail. 

"Fucking hell, why do I ever open my damn mouth?"


	20. Out of the Woods

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter XX: Out of the Woods  
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> AN:  
> Hey there, Fan-fic-folks!
> 
> Welcome to the ending! I'm genuinely delighted to have finally made it to the end of a fic, and boy has it been fun! When I started this one, I never thought it'd become one of my favourite things to write, but it really did and it's been a delightful journey to make. Thanks for coming along with me for it. Seriously. I'm so incredibly grateful for every one of you peeps who've been reading. A story is nothing without people to tell it to, whether you review/comment or not, so I wanna say thanks to each one of you. 
> 
> I didn't think this was where it was going to go, but unlike the game it felt like a natural end for this storyline. I imagine some of you are probably going to be disappointed in me, but there it is. Sometimes, things in our lives, as good or as bad as they may be, don't end how we want them to. It's a hard lesson to learn, but something we all learn at one point or another. So, that's what I'm trying to show here. 
> 
> Thanks for reading and, as always, please review.
> 
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Fucking hell, why do I ever open my damn mouth?" I groan. 

"None of us know the answer to that either, Chloe." Victoria quips, and honestly you gotta admire a group that can joke under pressure, right? Then again, it's kinda sad that being chased by angry monsters really is just another day at the office for us at this fucking point. 

I shoulder the shotgun with a shrug. "Come on then, kids. Pretty sure there's a way out up here."

I pick a direction at random and start walking. Not the way we came in, though. Obviously. Not the second time, anyway. Ahem. 

We walk up a spiralling incline, going up maybe ten metres before it stops at the bottom of a fifteen metre high ledge. Fuck. Too high for us to boost Matt. "Taylor, you climb up and sink a pin. We're gonna have to pull Matt up, like we did before up top."

She nods, tosses up the grappling hook, and uses it to climb up to the top. Not as quick as... Sam, but she still scurries up the wall in pretty good time. After another few seconds of her being out-of-view, a couple of ropes drop down to us. I grab them and Victoria brings Matt over, and together we manage to get him comfortably tied in. "Cool. Now, get up there." 

She frowns. "What?" 

I sigh. "You gotta get up there, dude, and help Taylor lift."

She nods, and the frown clears. "Oh. Okay." I sit and watch as she climbs up the grappling hook and disappears over the edge. They natter for a second, then Taylor's head pops over and she grins down at me, mouthing "Ready!"

I nod, and together we manage to get Matt up and over without hurting the dude too badly. Kind of anti-climactic, honestly. I spent the entire time thinking a Wendigo was gonna jump us, but nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Fuck All. Bupkis. Uh, yeah. You get the idea. Matt gets up without a problem. Then, I get to go. 

And, of-fucking-course, that's exactly when shit goes down. 

I'm about halfway up the wall, when another Wendigo howl echoes through the caverns, and I nearly fall off the wall. I stay on, though. I do kinda let out a hella terrified scream of my own too, but still. I'm still on the wall. When I scream, Taylor's head appears back over the wall and gives me a concerned look. "What's wrong?" 

I frown, and mouth back. "Don't you fucking hear that?" 

Another Wendigo howl echoes around the cavern.

She tilts her head. "Hear what?" 

So, that's a no, then. Guess I'm still going insane. Hopefully I'm not gonna wake up lying on rock with my ass aching again. Seriously, that shit hella fucking hurts. It occurs to me that I should be probably pretty worried when I give literally no fucks about going crazy, but frankly I don't have the fucking time for some sit down therapy. I mean, unless my hallucinations can provide me a therapist, I'm kinda stuck for options out here anyway. (AN: #Meta)

"Nothing. Thought I heard..." 

Another Wendigo howl echoes, but this one gets a fucking reaction from Taylor as her eyes suddenly bulge and she focuses down at me. "Fucking climb faster!"

I nod, and start pulling myself up, and alongside the howls we get the skittering sounds of claws on rock. Fuck. There's definitely a lot of them. Y'know how you can hear vaguely how many horses or people there are by counting the stepping sounds? I lost track at a dozen. 

So, yeah. I fucking climb faster. 

The Wendigoes burst into the cavern, through the same way we got in, just as I pulled myself over the top. We heard a thundery sound of crumbling rock and the smashing of shit as what was a pretty small hole for us suddenly exploded outwards into dust and rock and angry murder-geckos. 

Needless to say, my casual resignation a la hallucinatory-therapy disappeared hella fast. And so did we. Victoria and Matt had been standing together from the second we got up, and Taylor was shockingly quick at rewinding the grappling hook rope, so we were gone barely seconds after I stood up.

And I didn't even realise I'd pulled out the shotgun. 

We head up a longish tunnel that sloped up slightly, and end up in... a cavern filled with cages. 

Empty cages. 

A couple of them start to rattle as whatever the fuck was inside them realises we'd arrived.

Mostly empty cages, I amend inside my head. 

The cavern was dark, and we were running frantically away from things that wanted to kill us or eat us or flay us alive or whatever it was (I forget, Matt mentioned it, like, once, a long few hours ago and my mind has kinda been on other shit since then. Like, y'know, not dying.) that they wanted to do, so we didn't get a good look at whatever was in those cages. Which was bad for me since, when I ran past one of them, the thing inside suddenly flung itself at the bars and long, hella emaciated clawed arms stretched out from the bars at me in a swipe that I barely fucking dodged.

Pretty sure that Wendigo just...

I spare a look back over my shoulder.

Yep. 

Fucker stole my beanie. 

Briefly, just hella briefly, I consider going back for it. 

Then the chorus of Wendigo howls echoes at us down the tunnel behind us, and I reconsider that thought entirely. Sorry, Beanie. Your sacrifice will be remembered. 

We keep running through the cavern, and find yet more Wendigo-filled cages. Huh. So, Ned keeps the Wendigoes right under my fucking lookout? Good to know. Actually, hella not good to know, ignorance is totally fucking bliss on this one, but whatever. I'm crazy now, I can deal. 

The cavern bends ahead of us, and starts to incline up again to another entrance. We take it, and follow the tunnel along to the left. It inclines steeper than the cavern, twisting up further towards the surface and the awesome sunlight. Dog, I miss sunlight. Is that weird? That's definitely weird. Meh. Fuck it. 

We head up and out into... oh great, into yet more caverns filled with cages filled with hungry monsters. Fuckin' Ned. We got through at least another three caverns, until the Wendigoes finally caught up with us, the GAW at the head of the pack. The huge fucking Wendigo was pretty determined to stay there, any other Wendigo that tried to get past got a hella powerful swipe to the head that fucking decapitated them. 

I let myself drop back to the rear to keep them back, shooting at as any of them as I could with the shotgun. The GAW just ran straight through all the fire, basically unhurt in any fucking way, but between me and it we managed to start thinning the herd hella drastically as we ran through the caverns, until it was just us, and it.

Without realising, I'd dropped back a hella long distance from the others. Which was fine by me, I had my trusty shotgun, they didn't have shit, so it seemed fair. Unfortunately (well, unfortunately for me, really), that meant that when one of them called out that they'd made it to an exit, I was at least a couple minutes away, and with the GAW glaring and howling and charging around me, I couldn't run without getting very dead. Which, y'know, I wasn't exactly hella keen on, but it wasn't looking like I had a better option. At least this way, they'd get out, right? 

So, I settle up, and get ready to go out, guns blazing, and that's when something hella fucking unexpected happens. 

Okay, so not that unexpected, but Taylor coming in like a wrecking ball on a hanging cage wasn't what I thought my day was gonna contain when I got up that morning. 

The cage, and Taylor, slam into the side of the Wendigo and knock it into one of the walls. The chain suspending the cage (on fucking what?) immediately and hella violently snaps and the cage slams down on top of the GAW as hard as it hit the wall, driving it further down as those ring-link things from the rest of the chain scatter all over the cavern.

I stare, just for a second, in pure fucking shock at Taylor who just gives me an irritated glance in return and yells "Don't just stand there, Chloe. Fucking run!"

See, now that was something hella fucking unexpected. Did Taylor really just shout angrily at me? I think, as she literally drags me into a run. 

I'm so proud.

\--

We make it outside and find Victoria and Matt waiting at the top of a hella-old, hella-wrecked wooden structure. Which really was weird. There was like, a dozen laws against permanent structures in places like this. But then again, maybe nobody but Ned even knew about it? We only wandered into it by accident, and this forest was huge. 

Either way, it's not like it was gonna be here much longer. The place was wrecked. Bits of the floor outside the cave entrance were rotted through completely, hell, most of the floor was rotted through completely, but there was still enough for us to make a hella careful way across to a broken staircase that lead down to another floor, this one looking way better and dominated by a shitload of rusted machinery. I was pretty sure it was mining shit, but frankly it could be used for making fucking ice cream for all I know. 

Matt points across the room, and we all look over to see another staircase. "What the fuck even is this place? I thought nobody could build here or whatever?"

I grin at Victoria for that question. "Aww, Vicky. You did listen in the orientation briefing!"

She glares back at me; she and Matt took the lead again, letting me and Taylor keep an eye on the rear. Or their rears, my fucked-up brain adds in. Goddamn pervy fucker. Thought I'd ditched that asshole back at the lake. "Fuck you, Price. Just answer the question."

I pause as a feeling of utter wrongness washes over me. I shake my head to clear my nerves. Come on, Price. We're out, we're in the sun, you're fine. 

When I open my mouth to reply, instead of words, there's just a loud, hungry, hella pissed off scream, and the rotted-floor (now ceiling) shatters as the Wendigo tears through it like tissue paper and lands on top of the machinery. 

I'm not sure how I react so fast, but the second it hits metal my finger hits the trigger. In hindsight, probably not the best idea to shoot fire in a rotting wooden building, but it's what I did. And the building promptly catches fire. Of-fucking-course. I scowl at it, still shooting. Fucking weak-ass wood. 

The Wendigo wasn't too pleased with this turn of events, as the weak floor, now the weak and on-fire floor, almost immediately gives and the Wendigo drops down into the floor beneath us along with a shitload of rusty metal. 

I wonder faintly if Wendigoes can get tetanus. 

I don't wonder long though, as the Wendigo immediately jumps back up with a howl and lands on the ceiling. It screams, and we all freeze. It doesn't attack, but we are kinda now all frozen in a burning building. 

Heh. Frozen in a burning building. Temperature jokes. 

The head swings around as it screams around the room, trying to spot any of us moving. But we were dab hands at this statue shit by now. We would've gotten away with it too, if it hadn't been for that pesky burning building. As the floor of the room above us caved in, one of the long beam-things that ran across the entire length of the building just sorta... snapped and a hella massive log just slammed into the floor next to Taylor, knocking her to the ground. Like the normal person she is, she reacted to the pain of fire and splinters and shit by yelling hella loudly. 

The Wendigo's head immediately spun around to glare at where Taylor had fallen and, before she could move, it dived towards her and my heart fucking stopped. Oh god. Not her too. 

I whirl with the shotgun, blasting away and yelling as loud as I can (which, honestly, wasn't that loud. I was real tired, dude.) to distract the thing from her. 

And it worked. The GAW immediately tried to leap at me, but a lucky shot knocked it back and out a window. Oh. That... that was a wall. I shrug. Guess it's a window now. #InteriorRedecorating, Bitches.

Almost as immediately as we'd frozen, we get fucking moving again, heading straight for the stairs just in time to hear the Wendigo slam back into the hole in the wall it'd made, and howl into the now-empty room. 

Bought us a few extra seconds to cross the mess of a floor below it. Seriously, between the Wendigo and the Machinery falling through the floor, this place was wrecked. Oh, yeah. And the fire. Can't forget the fire. I mean, God. I'm already sweating like a bitch. How do Firemen work in these conditions, holy shit. 

Wouldn't it be great if the Wendigo got trapped in the building and burned to death? Eh. We aren't that fucking lucky. 

We carefully and quietly, but with as much urgency as we could manage while still keeping quiet (again, the building was on fire), made our way across the wrecked room. I could see the middle of some trees out the window, so we were maybe a couple floors away from the bottom? Shit, this place was huge. How the hell did they hide a whole building like this out here?

When we made it ouside without another encounter, I actually let myself get hopeful that we might've lost the thing back there. It, uh... it didn't last long.

The wall behind exploded outwards yet again in another burst of fire and splinters and Wendigo as the GAW came after us again.

Shit, this fucker is hella persistent. I immediately reward it's persistence with a round of shotgun fire. Every round misses. 

Hey, at least I solved the problem of the illegal building. It'll be ash pretty soon. Then I remember that the highly flammable building is surrounded by highly flammable trees and highly flammable wildlife. 

Oops. 

Ah well. Not much I can do about it now. 

I keep shooting, covering the others as they sprint away from the building. The forest was probably also full of Wendigoes, knowing our luck, but it was still better than being in the caves. 

Oh crap, Thunder Canyon.

"Guys! Go the other way!"

\--

Hella surprisingly, our luck actually holds out, and we manage to stay out of the worst named canyon in the area and ahead of the Giant-Ass Wendigo on our... um... ass. 

We finally get back to my lookout and...

Okay. Luck well and truly fucking gone.

"Shit. The place looks even worse than when you two trashed it." The entire Lookout had been knocked over. It was basically just a pile of wood and my crap on the hillside. I felt a hella faint twitch of sadness, seeing it like that. It might've sucked, but it was still my home. 

I...

Oh. 

Arcadia Bay makes so much more fucking sense now. 

Victoria frowns, and Taylor shakes her head in confusion. "We never trashed your lookout, Chloe."

Victoria nods in agreement. "Yeah. What are you talking about?"

I don't say anything, still just... reassessing my entire life-view. Or home-life-view, I guess. 

Victoria raises an eyebrow. "Uh, Chloe? Hello? Are you going to collapse on us again?"

I frown, then, and run over what she said in my head before replying irritably. "After I yelled at you, you came up here, tossed my shit around, and broke the radio lines." 

They both shake their heads. "We honestly didn't. It was probably Ned." Victoria nods in agreement again. Huh. Interesting change in their whole dynamic. Remember Taylor would've been the one nodding in agreement before all this shit happened. 

Matt nods. "That sounds like something Ned would do. He's, uh, he's not good with new people."

That's a fucking understatement. I snort, honestly still kind of disbelieving them. I mean, I really pissed those two off. Well, three off, then. I remembered the bodies in the caves, and Powwaw's body twisting into the Wendigo, and carefully don't think about what probably happened to Courtney. Still. Not worth it. I kinda like Taylor now, and Victoria is... I kinda like Taylor now. "Yeah. No fucking kidding, dude. But fine. Whatever. See if you can find anything useful, and I'll keep a lookout."

They nod and skitter over to the wreckage. Matt and Victoria stick together and work kind of methodically, Taylor just dives right in to the middle of the pile. After a few quiet, untalkative minutes where I don't see shit in the treelines, Victoria pops up, holding something hella small in her hands. She taps Matt on the shoulder, and shows him whatever it is. He stares down at it for a second before nodding, and he closes her hand around it. 

After another beat, she stands up, and walks slowly over to me, still staring down at the thing in her hand. "What did you get? Please tell me it's another ra-." 

Oh.

Rachel's smiling, happy face grins up at me from the torn up remnants of the picture I had by the bed. I feel my cheeks get wet as tears start to run down my face. Hella badass, hella cool tears, obviously. 

Victoria looks sympathetically at me. It's a weird look on her. "Who is she?"

How the fuck do I explain Rach?

"That's Rachel. She is my... she was my... I, uh..."

Hella badly, apparently.

Victoria shakes her head. "You don't have to say anything else. Here." She stretched out her hand and I took the picture from her. After another beat of silence, she just says "I... I'm sorry." and disappears back over to Matt. 

I stare down at the picture for another few seconds, then carefully put it in the inside pocket of my jacket. I look up just in time to see Taylor's curious (and concerned) glance before she quickly looks back down at the pile of junk, the pile of my life for the last few months, in front of her. 

I go back to keeping watch.

Goddamn it, Rach.

\--

We find fuck-all useful shit in the wreckage. Most of the stuff that would come in handy was in my pack already, and what was left had mostly been fucked up by whatever had done the damage in the first place. (Any of you bet Wendigo? 'cause I bet Wendigo).

It's not until start to leave when I finally hear a faint, almost inaudible, almost... a chirping sound? I stop, and the others don't notice, keeping walking another few feet until they finally pick up that I'm not with them. "Chloe?" Taylor's voice sounds concerned, but it's faint, almost... far-away.

I follow the sound, getting more and more certain of what I was gonna find as I let my ears lead me. I find an upturned box a little way from the wreckage, and the chirping sounds more like soft crying. I drop to one knee, and lift up the box.

My face cracks into a broad grin as I see the little turtle just sat there, happily chomping away at the frankly ridiculous amount of green shit I'd left for him before I'd run out to get the kids to Ned's place, and suddenly the world just sorta... made sense again. 

Turt Reynolds rides again, baby!

\--

"I can't believe you kept the fucking turtle." 

I grin down at the little guy poking his head out of my pocket, chirping delightedly. "Hell yeah, I kept this little guy. Turt Reynolds is gonna get us out of this, you'll see." 

The others all look sceptical. 

I reach up and stroke Turt's head with one finger. Don't worry buddy, they'll see how awesome you are. "Besides, I wasn't gonna leave him alone out there. Pretty sure that fire from the weird, building-thing," I still have no idea what the hell that place was. "is gonna spread, and I couldn't live with myself if this little guy got hurt." I grin, gently booping his snoot. "Could I? No, no I couldn't." 

Their sceptical looks don't change. Ah well. We'll show them. Things had been quiet for long enough that I felt okay trying to call Max. Not likely the GAW was gonna jump me mid-call, so... yeah. I pull out my radio as we walk, and say "Max?" as I stroke Turt's head again. 

I wait a few seconds, and nothing.

I try again. "Max?" 

A few more seconds, and still nothing. 

Come on, Max. For fucks sake. This really isn't the time to not answer your fucking phone. Radio. Whatever. 

"Max?!" 

Another few seconds passes, and I'm about to drop the radio when a familiar voice crackles through. "-oe? Chloe!"

I grin, and a couple of the others look back at me and smile at the sound of a friendly voice. "Hey Max. We, uh, we're not dead." 

Cue the swearing. 

When she finally finishes insulting me, or complimenting me, I really have no idea, she just laughs in delight. "I'm so glad you're all okay." A pause. "You are all okay, right?" 

I let out a slow breath. "We, uh... we lost Sam." 

"Sam?" 

"One of the, uh, people who crashed. She... she saved our lives." 

"Oh." She pauses, definitely hearing something in my voice. "I'm sorry." 

"Yeah." 

"For her dying, I mean. Not her saving your lives. I'm kinda glad she did that." 

I roll my eyes in patient irritation at Max's familiar awkwardness. I know she can't help it, but really the wrong fucking subject to fumble about on with me right now. "Yeah. So, we're gonna head to Ned's next and fort up. Someone's gotta come by to check on us soon, right? Don't you, like, give reports and shit while we're out here?" 

A minute of silence. Then another. "Max?" 

"Chloe." Her voice sounds horrified. "What did you do?!"

I frown. "What? What's wrong?" 

"What's wrong? What's WRONG!?" She takes a deep breath to try calm her shit. It really doesn't work. "Oh, I don't know, how about the huge fucking fire over by Thunder Canyon?" 

Oh yeah.

That. 

Shit. 

"Uh..." 

Max groans. "Please tell me you had nothing to do with this." 

"You had nothing to do with this." I repeat, dutifully. 

"Chloe!"

Yeah, she's right. Not the time. "I'm sorry! We were being chased by a huge fucking Wendigo!" Mahingan, the voice in my head helpfully adds. I roll my eyes. Oh, yeah, real fucking useful to know his damn name. At least we can introduce ourselves all politely and shit before he eats us. "He would've killed us if I hadn't shot at him with these fire-round thingies. There was just a building there that caught on fire, too."

"Fire-round thingies? In a fucking forest? What kind of- Wait. A building? Like, a permanent structure? An Illegal Permanent Structure?" Max takes another deep breath. Still not all that effective. "Ignore it, Max, there's more important things to deal with right now." She mutters to herself, taking yet another deep breath. She's definitely still pissed, but she's not shouting anymore. Guess that's something. "Chloe, we're stuck out in the forest, with no way of communicating to ask for the help we'd need to put a fire that big out. That fire will spread, and it will burn down your entire section. Including all the people inside."

I blink. "Oh."

"Yeah, fuckin' Oh. You have got to get whoever you're with and get them out of here. Come over to my lookout as soon as you can, I'm going to see if one of the other firewatchers maybe made a radio in their spare time, or smuggled a phone repair kit in or something because otherwise we're going to lose a fuckload of this forest, Chloe, and I'm desperate enough to take even a completely impossible longshot right now." 

I slump my shoulders. She's right. This is all my fault. But I stand by what I did. It needed to be done. "You're right, and you can totally yell at me about it later. How do we get over to your place?" 

She rattles off directions I recognise part of as slightly further than where I go to pick up my 'food'. Apparently there was a cable car just past the drop point, that'd take us over to Max's area directly. Unfortunately though, thanks to the fire that was spreading up towards Beartooth Point (another weird-as-fuck name), we couldn't take the direct route to the direct route. So, we were going round. 

"Thanks, Max." I hesitate for a second before adding. "It'll be good to finally meet you, even if it is under shitty circumstances." 

Her voice softens as she agrees. "It will, Chloe. Now," Her voice hardens again. "Get your fucking shit together and get over here before you burn to death. It is not a pleasant way to go." 

She makes a good point. "Cool. See ya soon." I drop the radio back to my belt and look up at the others, who are all staring at me with varying expressions of shock, fear, and... nah, that covers it. Still. At least I had my Turtle. 

"Come on. Which way to Ned's again?" 

\--

Apparently the Wendigoes had been hella busy up top while we pissed about in the caverns below the forest. Ned's place was only slightly less trashed than my lookout, and that's only because it's pretty hard to topple a cave. Guess those underground lookouts might've been a good idea after all.

Remember that big metal door that kept out a whole horde of Wendigoes before? Well, that was gone, half of it off to the left, the other half was embedded through the middle of a tree to our right. Literally. In. A. Tree. 

I stop to stare in amazement. "I gotta admit, that's impressive. Wendigoes really are hella strong, aren't they?"

Matt nods. "Yep. And unless you want one to do that to us, we should probably get on with this." 

He makes a hella good point. I scurry past them and poke my head inside, along with the shotgun barrel. "Looks clear. I'm gonna go check the back." 

Leaving the others standing about by the door, I go back and check out the other rooms. The log-room was wrecked. The benches were flung all over the place, most of them snapped in half. Even the lockers and crates and shit around the sides of the room had been knocked about. The few empty ones I saw, I had no idea if they'd been empty before or not, but I hoped they were a sign that the cranky old bastard got himself and Mike out. 

I took the next few rooms one by one, and found just more of the same. More wrecked shit, more empty storage boxes. Until I got to the armoury. That was different. The door was still on, for one. I nudged it open with the shotgun and poked inside. The room was in good condition, had no wrecked shit at all, and was entirely empty.

Fuck. 

I head back out. "Ned's gone. And he took all the damn guns." I grumble. 

"What about Mike? Is he here? Is he okay?"

I nod, trying to be reassuring and shit for the now hella worried looking Matt. "He's fine. I think. He's not here, anyway. Looks like Ned took him when he left." 

Matt sighs, relieved. "Good. That's... that's good. Okay. So, do we know where they've gone?" 

I shrug. "No idea, dude. I literally just looked for Wendigoes. You wanna find messages or signs or whatever, go ahead and look." 

He nods, and his jaw grits in determination. "Alright. We'll start from the armoury and work our way out."

Taylor steps over next to me. "We'll stay, and keep watch." 

Victoria tilts her head and raises one eyebrow. Taylor just shrugs. "They're only small rooms. Too many people will make things harder, not easier, right?" 

Matt grins amiably. "Good point. We got this, Victoria. Come on." 

Taylor and I take point (that's what the military people call it, right?) by the door, keeping an eye on the outside. There's a few beats of silence before she hesitantly asks "Are you okay?" 

I stare over at her and raise an eyebrow. "Am I okay?" 

When she nods enthusiastically (hella cute, by the way), I find myself rolling my eyes. "Dude, we're being chased by monsters that want to kill us and eat us, and very hopefully in that order, half of our friends are dead, and we're currently running away from a fire that's hella probably gonna burn us alive, and you're asking if I'm okay?" 

She nods again, and I just... sorta... smirk incredulously at her. "Yeah, I'm fuckin' shiny. How are you?"

"Oh, I'm good. Been better, obviously, but things aren't so bad." 

I frown at her. "They have?" 

"Yeah. I mean," She reaches out towards my chest and I frown harder, until she finally reaches her destination and starts stroking Turt's head. He lets out a happy little turtle-chirp and we both grin. "You got this little guy, right?" 

We grin quietly at each other for a few seconds before Taylor suddenly breaks the hella nice peace and quiet with her fucking concern. "Seriously though, how are you doing?"

I shrug. "Shittily. Shittarily? Shit-esque? Uh..." I flounder a bit under her amused gaze. "I'm good." 

"Chloe..." 

"I'm fine!"

"Chloe." 

"Dude, what do you want me to say?" 

"Chloe." 

"Chloe." 

"Chloe?"

"Okay, this is getting confusing. What was the question?" 

"How are you?" 

"I think I might be insane." 

"That's probably true."

"Hey!"

"What? You literally stood up in front of a horde of screaming monster things and shot at them with a frigging shotgun. Pretty sure every Jury in the country would buy that insanity plea." 

I pause for a second. Yeah. I did do that, didn't I? "You win this round."

She giggles. "What makes you think you're 'insane'?" And yes, she did do the air-quotes. 

I shrug, and genuinely think over telling her what happened down in the caves. The hallucination-vision things, I mean. I realise a lot of crazy shit happened down there, so specific is probably good. 

Eh. Why the fuck not. 

I tell her the whole shebang and somehow, before I know it, I'm talking about Rachel, too. Taylor just looks at me sympathetically the whole time, nodding in the right places, and making occasional 'mmm' or 'oh' noises. She's a good listener. Guess having Victoria for a best friend means you kinda gotta be. Boy does Vicky talk shit a lot. 

When I finish, I sorta trail off into silence. I'm pretty sure I just talked more than I've talked this entire fucking trip, so I've got no idea where to go now. 

Taylor didn't seem to mind the quiet though. She sits across from me for just a few seconds before standing, and quietly making her way over to me and wrapping her arms around me.

Damn, this girl gives great hugs.

"Aww. Thanks, Chloe." 

Shit. I said that out loud?

"You did. It was sweet." 

"Shit."

She giggles in my arms, and all feels a little more right with the world. Just the two of us (and Turt, obviously) and no Wendigoes, no Rachel, no nothing.

Obviously, the universe couldn't let me have that for very long. Because that's right when Matt and Victoria walked back in. 

Matt, the smug prick he is, immediately comments. "Are we interrupting something? Because I'm sure we can get the Wendigoes to wait outside until you're done." 

I growl and Taylor's giggles get worse. "Matt. I like you. But I can not like you very quickly. Tread carefully, or I'll put my shotgun where the sun doesn't fucking shine and I'll damn well make it shine." 

He frowns. "What?" 

"I'll stick my shotgun up your ass and explode your insides until there's more holes in you than the plot of Twilight." 

They all stare at me in silence for a second, smirking. 

I frown. "That's not the usual reaction to me threatening people. What gives?" 

Taylor pulls back and grins up at me. "You've read Twilight?" 

Oh, fuck.

"Yep."

I said that out loud?

"Yep." 

Shit.

"Yep."

"Did you find anything?" 

"Other than the fact you read Twilight?"

I raise the shotgun threateningly. 

Victoria rolls her eyes. "We found a letter." She holds it up. "Can I read, or would you like to shoot us first?" 

"Don't tempt me." 

She rolls her eyes again. "Basically, he eavesdropped on your radio call with Max and got worried about the fire, so he left with Matt for some 'safer location'." 

"Did he say where?" 

Victoria scoffs. "If he had, wouldn't I have said so?" 

Okay, that's a fair point. "What else?" 

"He took Mike. And the supplies. And basically anything in here that could be useful."

"Generous fucker, isn't he?" 

Matt shrugs. "He's who the world made him, that's all. Either way, we should probably go. The fire is probably going to spread down here." 

"Good point." I lean the shotgun up on my shoulder. "Alright y'all, let's move out." 

Taylor grins and fistpumps. "Ooh-rah."

I roll my eyes. Marines! I pull out my radio. "Hey, Max? You found anything from your buddies or whoever? We're on our way, and frankly that fuckin' longshot is looking like we might need it." 

Nothing.

"Max?" 

Still. Nothing. 

Shit. Why isn't she answering? I know she said she was asking her friends about getting some stuff, but she'd have used her radio to do that, right? Even if she actually went out to visit them, although I have no idea why she'd ever do that but, she'd still have to bring the Radio with her. 

Oh god. 

What if..? 

"Max?"

"Something's wrong." Victoria observes succinctly.

I scowl at her. "No fucking shit something's wrong. I just don't know what." 

"Well, then. Let's go find out." Taylor nods. 

\--

The trip round the back was disturbingly un-filled with Wendigoes. Needless to say, we were all freaked out. And maybe a teensy bit paranoid.

"Oh god, is that a Wendigo?"

"No."

"Oh god, is that a Wendigo?"

"No." 

"What about-"

"No." 

You get the idea. 

It was a long trip, even if we were trying to hurry. We headed down to the Thunder Canyon crossing up to Mule Point, past the old ruined Lookout, the spot where I found Turt (I point it out to him and stroke his head a couple times as we go past), and up to Cache 241, then past it and up to the supply drop. And all the way we could hear the crackling of the fire I caused. 

When we look back from there, the fire had blocked off the route back. We were stuck going this way regardless. I shrug. "No way back." 

Turns out, talking was a bad idea.

There's a long, drawn out howl. It's hungrier and angrier than all the ones we'd heard before. Really drew the attention, y'know? Which turned out to be a good thing, as we looked over just in time to see the Mahingan prowl out of the fire. 

Literally, straight out of it. Kinda destroyed the whole 'fire-kills-Wendigoes' idea. It's milky-white eyes immediately snap to us, and it howls again.

"Run!"

No shit, Sherlock.

We charge past the supply drop, and I wince as the Wendigo's leap slams it into it, sending the drop, but unfortunately not the Wendigo, over the edge. It spins and slides into the landing, launching itself off onto a cliff-face without pausing. Poor Turt was terrified. Little guy was screaming in my pocket. 

I let the others take the lead, hanging a few steps back to keep shooting at the Wendigo. I might not be able to kill the fucker, but at least I could keep it's attention, maybe slow it down for the others a little. One of my shots gets lucky, knocks the Wendigo off the cliff and sends it spinning out of view. 

That little voice in my head that I still haven't decided if it's me going crazy or some kind of woman-of-the-wild instinct kicking in suddenly warns me to spin, so I do, pulling the trigger before I even registered that the Wendigo was flying towards me from there. 

I manage to keep it back for long enough that the others reach the cable car. If I remember right from the briefing, they just gotta unlock the chain and start it up. Should take a couple minutes. 

I can keep the Wendigo back for that long. 

Especially with the little voice in my head flying shotgun. Every time the Wendigo came at me, the little guy (or girl) somehow knew where it was. I felt one little regret about the whole thing; after all the shooting I was doing, Turt was probably deaf by now. I mean, I nearly was. 

But at least we were alive. 

Alive was good. 

The cable-car kids finally get the thing running, and make the oh so stupid mistake of yelling about it to let me know. Helpful and all, sure. But the one fucking rule is Wendigoes have hella fucking good hearing. "Chloe, the cable car is-!"

That's as far as Taylor gets before the Wendigo screams and leaps over at her. My fucking heart almost stops in my chest as she disappears under it and I completely expect there to be a body when the Wendigo stands up.

But there isn't. 

Instead, there's an angry looking Wendigo and three people staring in shock at it from the safety of the little metal cable-car box now hanging about ten feet from the edge of the cliff. Maybe slightly less, but definitely in that ballpark.

I blast away at it a couple of times, but the Wendigo twists and both shots go past it with no hits. Then, it jumps at me, and I get knocked back down the path towards the supply drop. I flop out of my roll and land in a pile on the ground, screaming as a jolt of pain flashes through my shoulder. I spare enough time for a quick glance down to see my side soaked with blood and hear Turt screaming in terror. 

Sorry little guy, but I gotta keep shooting or we both die. 

The recoil from the shotgun pounds into my ribs with every damn shot and it took everything I had not to bend over and scream in pain, but I manage to keep a handle on my gun and my ribs and keep on shooting. I don't bother aiming, just sort of pointing vaguely in the Wendigo's direction and putting as much fire in its way as I can. The forest around us is already burning, so it's not like I can make it more on fire.

It works, thank fuck, and the Wendigo and I end up cat and mouse spinning around each other. It looks for any opening it can get, I make sure to fill any opening I leave with yet more fucking fire and metal. 

Pretty sure I was starting to really piss it off, because it suddenly began pushing harder and faster and if it wasn't for the little future-seeing voice in my head I would've been dead in milli-fucking-seconds. Never thought I'd be grateful to be crazy, but I absolutely totally was.

You aren't crazy.

That's pretty rich, coming from a voice in my fucking head. Who the fuck are you supposed to be, anyway? You sure as shit don't talk like me.

You know who I am.

Uh, no. No I don't. 

You will, the voice says, then just... disappears right as the Wendigo flies over my head. Well. That was fucking ominous. Even the voices in my head are hella melodramatic, I think in the two seconds I have before it bounces back and launches itself at me. A lucky last-minute dodge, no help from the voice, saves me from getting decapitated, and I immediately stop. 

Turns out that's a rule that applies to all Wendigo, even the freaking mother of them all. Or father. Don't wanna assume. It's head swings around as it prowls around the supply box clearing, sniffing and howling as it tries to scare me or smell me or something. 

...

Can it smell me? I wasn't exactly fresh, minty or otherwise. It came close a few times, and it took some hella serious restraint for me not to turn and run. And, surprisingly, hella serious common sense. You do not try run from shit that can take down a helicopter or that could totally kick a honey badger's ass. 

Every time I see it look somewhere where I am most hella fucking certainly not in view, I take a step back towards the path. It's slow as hell, and the fire has worked its way right up to us. I can literally feel the heat on my ass. Not that there isn't always heat back there, boom! 

Heh.

Definitely insane. 

As I get closer, step by step, to the path, and my friends (even Vicky), I start to feel like I might actually make it out of this. Probably optimistic, but- 

The crack echoes through the clearing as my foot comes down on a twig, or a deer bone, or a badger tooth or something. The Wendigo's head immediately snaps around and it screams as it charges towards me. 

I turn and I run as fast I possibly can. Fuckfuckfuckfuck. 

The Wendigo screams down the path after me, but I somehow manage to stay ahead of it. As I come around the corner, I spot the other three, bickering in the boxcar. Taylor looks like she's giving the others hell. Go her. 

Matt's eyes bulge when he sees me, and he opens his mouth to grin. It stays open as his eyes slide behind me and he sees it coming for me. He raises his arm and points wordlessly at me. The other two spin and their mouths drop open as far as Matt's when they spot the Wendigo chasing me. 

I let myself run, feeling the motion of my legs drift into that weird, slightly numb place where they just go without me having to make them. I wouldn't be able to dodge, but this place was cramped enough that I wouldn't have a chance anyway, so speed was way more useful. 

I let my foot break the edge, and waited until it hit the angle of the corner. That would hopefully give me the best leverage to use my running momentum for a jump. And jump I fucking did, launching myself at the Boxcar. No time to pull it back, so this was my only chance. 

I windmill my arms and legs to keep my momentum going, and I fly through the air like a majestic goddamn eagle. Everything drifts in slow motion around me as I close on the car. I feel my face splitting into a grin as I reach out in front of me to grab it. It looks like I'm going to make it, until suddenly it doesn't and everything is dropping too fast and the car looks like I'm gonna miss it until-

My hands close on metal and I pull myself up and flip into the cart, landing on my ass. Hard. Fucking hell, I'm totally gonna need an Ass Doctor to check on mine when I get outta here. Pretty sure I bruised something or other. I spare a quick look down to check Burt's still in his pocket, and grin when I see his little head poking about and the pocket wriggling. 

He's good. 

And so am I! 

I do not know if I expected-

Something slams into the side of the cable car, and two long, sharp looking claws grab onto the same metal where I just had. The little voice in my head just says simply "Now." 

Without thinking, I suddenly jump to my feet, feeling everything around me in slow motion again, including Matt, Victoria, and Taylor, who've been looking at me with expressions of concern and amazement since I dropped in. Almost lazily, I drop the barrel of the shotgun down to rest against the Wendigo's neck. I smile. "Be free, Protector."

I pull the trigger. That part must've been a weak point or something, because the flame spreads through the Wendigo like I just injected lava into its veins, or whatever version of veins it has. I watch as most of its body starts to burn through like melting wax, and the claws... relax. 

As it drops down into the dark canyon below us, I swear I saw it smile. 

Thank... you...

I blink. 

Wait. What? 

\--

But I heard it... the voice was... real? It couldn't have been. Could it? Of course it couldn't. But... could it? I run a hand down the back of my neck as my brain runs through the possibilities. 

Does this mean I'm not crazy? Or maybe that I'm even crazier than I thought? 

I take a breath. Damned if I know. 

Later. I'll deal with it later. 

Right now, I gotta find Max. 

I push my way out of the cable car before the others can stop me, and set off up the hill at a run, leaving them yelling in confusion behind me. They'll be fine. They know the way. But Max is... maybe she's...

She can't be. She just can't. Not now. 

Not when we were finally gonna meet. 

I run up the cliff, past her outhouse (good to see even the high-ups got the same shitty shitter as the rest of us). I run up the steps of her lookout, and into the room at the top. 

Oh. 

Oh no.

Nononononononono. 

The place was trashed.

Her papers and books were scattered all over the room, and there scraps of something I didn't recognise all over one wall. But it looked... fleshy. And her chair was upside down, and her desk was covered in a pool of thick, red blood. 

It's... She... I take it all in, and I come to the hella obvious conclusion I know all the occupants of my head, invited ancient spirit-things or whoever else is in here, came to. 

Max was gone. 

Just like Rachel.

Just like Sam. 

Almost in a trance, I walk over, and I set her chair back upright. 

They got her. They actually got her. 

I thought she'd be... but she was...

I sit down in the chair, let my head fall into my hands, and I start to cry.


	21. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter XXI: Epilogue  
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> AN:  
> Hey there, Fan-fic-folks!
> 
> Apologies for the lack of upload these past couple weeks. I've been the kind of unwell that makes doing anything more than staring dumbly at a television screen utterly unappealing. I'm well again now though, so here's an update!
> 
> Also apologies for that last chapter there. That was mostly just me being an arsehole and trying to see how many of you would buy that was the ending. I came up with it back in the early chapters of this story when people were asking about how much I was planning to diverge from the canon storyline/endings. I was half tempted to flip that death, then kill Turt instead, but I'm not that mean. Poor little guy. Reading the beginning of this over though, it does feel a little... contrived to me. Maybe uploading this closer to the last chapter would've helped with that, but ah well. Can't change the past without destroying your town with a hurricane. Hmm... maybe I should give this temporal manipulation gig a go. :)
> 
> Now for the slightly more genuine "I'm so happy to have finished a story!" bit. While the last one took the unsatisfying part of the game ending, this one took more of a quiet stance. It was the thing I actually liked about the Firewatch ending. It wasn't big, it wasn't grand, it wasn't Michael Bay-esque with huge explosions and action sequences. It was just two people quietly going over what had happened to them. That was what I was trying for here, anyway. Sort of an introspective, low-drama ending that gave the characters some opportunity to move on. Not sure if it came off right in Chloe's verbiage or not. She's not the most empathetic and emotionally-literate person ever. 
> 
> Also, does anyone know how the hell I actually end this story? I have literally no idea how to mark it as 'complete' or whatever it is. So, uh... help? Please? 'cause this is actually officially it. Well, most likely it. I have a possible idea for an Epi-Epilogue about Chloe and Co readjusting after getting out, but I'm not sure if I can entirely do that justice as of yet, so it's tabled while I play around with some prep in a couple of the other stories. So it's... it for now? That works. 
> 
> Thanks for reading and, as always, please review.

I sat there for what felt like hours. How could this have happened? How could she be..?

The blood was still wet on the desk, so she couldn't even have been... gone long. Maybe if we'd've been faster, maybe if we came here instead of wasting time searching for my fucking sentimental bullshit, or that note from Ned. Maybe she'd still...

Fuuuuck. 

Do you ever have those moments of crystal clear clarity, where everything feels so real and so fucked up and yet you hope more than anything else in your entire fucking life that it isn't?

I was having one of those moments.

The room almost twanged around me, every bit of the mess just... shouting at me like "Notice me! Notice me! Something fucking shitty happened here! Notice me!". I tried not to think about it, but I just couldn't get it out of my head. And the smell of the blood was so strong, like... like...

My racing mind just suddenly stops, and I sniff the air experimentally. 

Huh.

"Tomato Sauce?"

"Yeah. I said I was a klutz, didn't I?" 

I blink, lift my head slightly. "Um. Hello?" The voice has never spoken out loud before. And there's more of a... lilt to it than there was before. I thought it'd be gone, anyway, now that the GAW's dead. 

"Hi." The voice is amused. There's a beat before "Are you not even going to look at me? I kind of want to see how accurate my drawings were." 

Wait. 

Oh. 

My. 

Fucking.

God. 

My head is up and my jaw is down before I can even think. Somehow, though, I pull my shit together and start talking. "What the fuck?!"

Okay so maybe not 'talking', but yelling was sort of like talking, right?

Just, y'know...

Louder. 

A tiny waif of a girl was standing there, staring at me, eyes wide in shock, eyes that were hella fucking surrounded by freckles by the way, as she looks frantically around her. "What? It's not that messy in here, is it? Dog, I knew I should've gotten this tidied up before I changed, I just didn't want to be walking around in ketchup soaked clothes. Stupid broken shelves." 

Huh. I've never heard someone grumble and babble at the same time before. 

Without thinking, I stand up and walk slowly over to her, step by step, my eyes never leaving hers, until I stop right in front of her and just look down... and then I poke her as hard as I could fucking manage.

Just to make sure this wasn't some weird hallucination dream again.

Fuck, I really hoped this wasn't a weird hallucination dream.

She sways around, playing along as I poke her, then grins up at me, tilting her head when she spots my badass teary eyes. "Just that emotional about finally meeting me, huh? Glad to see you're not dead. Would've sucked if those Wendigo things had killed you before I got to meet you. You look exactly like you described by the way." She reaches up and taps a piece of paper affixed to the wall, a drawing of me, before saying with a proud smile. "I think I totally got your likeness down, don't you?"

My mouth opens and closes uselessly a few times, and Max's face, her fucking, totally right-there-in-front of me face, falls into a concerned frown. I grin as I see the expression I'd pictured in my head over and over for the last few months just... really there! 

I think I might've been freaking out a little as Max frowns at me and I realise I haven't actually said anything since the whole yelling at her thing. 

"Chloe? Seriously, are you okay? Did you hit your head or something? Oh dog, did a Wendigo damage your brain or something? If you're mute now, it's okay, we can sign or something, I think." The frown goes deeper, and my grin gets even bigger. Fuck, she's hella cute. And also, really forgetful. I mean, I just yelled at her... "Shit. Maybe you don't know sign. Oh, I've got paper and a pen. Somewhere. I'd let you write on my crosswords, but I'd never let you write on my crosswords. Could you please shut me up now because I'm rambling like a bitch and-" 

I sweep her up in a hug and twirl her around as she laughs, grinning all the while like the crazy person that I'm starting to realise I might actually not be. Max's eyes twinkle gratefully at me, and I shudder when I realise that I'm starting to be the sort of person who says shit like that. 

"Is that a turtle in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" Max's amused little voice breaks my own inner ramble (She rambles, I ramble, it's a match made in hell) and I frown suddenly as little squeaking sounds finally register in my head. What is... "Oh shit! Turt!" 

I quickly drop her.

Literally. Turns out she was not kidding about the height difference. Her feet thunk as she drops three or four inches down to the floor. Man, she's tiny. And light, too. I didn't even notice I was lifting her. 

I pat myself down, and gently open the pocket I kept Turt Reynolds in. Crap, the little guy is probably terrified. If I still my hand in there, I'm hella going to get bitten. I look up at Max. "Do you have any food for him?"

She's just eyeing me with an amused little smile. I shrug. "He's scared, maybe some food might calm him down a bit? I dunno, I only ever had a cat and he got hit by a car, so..." 

Max smiles, shaking her head at my rambling, and shuffles over to one of the cupboards, opening it up and rifling around. "I think I have some... uh..." She pokes her head out, peering back at me like a meerkat. "Do tortoises like muesli?"

I shrug. "I have no fucking idea, dude. Do you not have any green shit?"

She shakes her head. "The only green things I have are gummy bears. Do tortoises eat gummy bears?"

I curse. "No, Max. I'm pretty sure Tortoises don't eat gummy bears." Okay, Turt. Guess we're doing this the hard way. I take my jacket off and put it down on the bed, getting down on my knees next to it. I make sure to stay quiet, trying not to let the tiny terrified squeaking sounds get to me, poor little Turt, and slowly eased the pocket zipper open.

I try to keep my voice low and soothing, like people on TV do when they're trying to coax abused dogs out of corners, as I babble whatever possibly hopefully vaguely comforting bullshit I could think of. Again, I had no idea what I was doing, so I was just making it up as I went. Not the best approach, I guess, but what the hell. It worked for Matt, Sam, and the dumbasses, right? 

After a minute or two, a tiny little head pokes out of the pocket, blinking dazedly up at me. He was still letting out tiny, pitiful little squeaks, but he looked okay. Not that I'd know what an okay turtle looked like, but his shell wasn't cracked and he still had all his limbs, so he was doing better than Matt. That was good enough for me. 

I reach out, hella slowly, making sure he could see my hand the whole time. I had to stop a couple times when the squeaking got louder, but I managed to get close enough that I could scratch his head. I grin as my finger runs over his rough skin. It seemed to calm the little guy down, eventually, and the squeaking stopped. 

I grin in satisfaction. At least I could do something right. I bundle the coat up a bit to make a little nest and stand up, leaving the little guy be. He's quiet and as happy as he can be without any decent food. 

I turn back to Max, who's just giving me an amused little smirk at the whole happenings of the last few minutes. "Is he okay?"

"I think so. It's okay if I leave him there for a bit, right? I don't wanna crush him or scare him or something by keeping him in my pocket all the time." 

Max just gives an easy shrug. "Sure. Why not. It's not like I'm going to bed anytime soon." She chuckles wryly and I find myself staring at her in disbelief again. 

With all the distractions gone (not that Turt was a distraction. Love that little guy.), all the fucked-up little thoughts that had been flaoting round my head since Sam had drifted back in.

"I thought you were dead..." I trail off, not sure how to explain those fucked up things that were inside my head right now. 

Max, weirdly, just shrugs like she understands. "Y'know, I get that a lot."

Oh, that's good. Wait. I tilt my head in confusion. "Uh. What?"

She waves a hand absently. "Oh, y'know. Shit happened, and I ran away to hide in the woods. Pretty sure my extended family mostly thinks I'm dead, except for my grandad. I visit him when I go back to civilization sometimes."

I blink at that. Good to know that the whole oversharing shit thing she does happens in person as well as over the radio. Cool. Cool cool cool. 

A few seconds of hella awkward silence pass as Max smiles and I try to get my brain to keep up with what the hell is happening. I wonder if all IRL conversations with her are like this. I almost grin as I realise I have a chance to find out. 

We stare at each other for a few long, long seconds before I open my mouth to say... something to... that. The moment I do, the door bursts open in a cloud of dumbasses as Taylor, Victoria, and Matt (I bestow his honorary rank of dumbass the second I spot his face falling into the room) tumble in and land in a pile of tangled limbs on the floor. The newest dumbass on the crew howls in pain as he hits his leg onto the hard wood, and Victoria immediately scrambles to his side, asking if he's okay. 

Taylor just looks sheepishly between me and Max. "Hi Chloe. Sorry Max. I know you told us to wait outside, but we got bored."

Max raises an eyebrow and looks over to me in a 'why are your kind of insane children breaking my house?' sort of way, and I sigh. Taylor just got a promotion to Dumbass, First Class. After a quick eyeroll, I just say "That's okay, Taylor." 

She grins, looking back over her shoulder as Victoria and Matt get themselves resettled together. "Sorry about your door."

Max wafts a hand. "Don't worry. That fuckin' thing is contrary as hell. Always sticking when you want it open and opening when you want it closed. You just gave me an excuse to get them to put in a new one." 

Taylor gives a grateful little smile and the three dumbasses cluster into the room, cramping up the hella tiny, hella messy space even more. Even Max looks kind of panicked at the sudden lack of personal space. Then again, I guess that's not that surprising. She has spent 90% of her life alone in a room only talking to people on a radio, so...

Speaking of Max; the girl looks between each of us, eyes stopping on ours, then flicking down our bodies in an oddly assessing kind of way, like she's checking damaged action figure collectibles or whatever, then moving on to the next one in line. After a few quiet moments of this, she just says simply "You all look like shit." 

Victoria bristles, and makes like she's gonna retort, but Taylor just groans. "I knoooow! God. I really miss my bed."

Max chuckles and I leave them chatting, with Matt interjecting every so often, as the tiny brunette bitches about the lack of amenities that living in the forest provides. "-and just, the fucking toilets, man. They suck."

Matt and Taylor seem mostly confused by the tiny ball of rage and cursewords that Max is. They'll learn. 

I amble over to one of the windows facing my lookout, resting a hand on the frame above the window as I stare out at the fire. It's dominating the entire treeline over there, only blocked from getting here by the canyon. Shit. We really did some damage to this place, didn't we?

"We did. It was for survival, though, so it's probably okay."

I grin back over my shoulder as Taylor smirks, then suddenly freezes as Max's voice echoes hella loudly through the small room. "You burned down half my fucking forest, Taylor. It's bloody not okay, dog damnit!"

"Fair point." 

Max crosses her arms and glares at Taylor, who goes from grinning to shivering under the cold gale force of Max's glare. For such a tiny person, she was hella scary when she got mad. Her nose was even quivering as she tried not to explode in anger. 

"Sorry, Max."

Her glare softens, just slightly, at Taylor's penitent expression. Her lips curl into a flippant smirk as she rolls her eyes with a sigh. "Fuck it. It's not like yelling at you will put anything out."

A faint pang of guilt washes over me at her mournful tone. "You really love this place, don'tcha?"

She shrugs, staring out the window at the fire. "It's home." 

She leaves it at that. Short, simple, weirdly poignant. 

I nod. "Yeah. I get that." 

And I really did. Fuck, I missed the bay. I never thought I would. But I do. Fuck, I really, really do.

She smiles. "We'll be out of here soon, though."

I frown. "We will? How?"

She gives a short, cold sounding bark of laughter. "Turns out one of the neighbours has a satellite phone. He called out for transportation for us, and a fire-team to come control the new blaze." It's more... appreciative of the situation than amused by it. Kind of dark and bitter. Which was understandable. I mean, hella easy solution for a situation we'd been hella panicked over. Anyone would be kind of bitter about that. "The chopper should be here in 30 minutes or so."

Taylor and Victoria grin at each other on hearing that. There's an elation there I don't really share. It's over. It's actually over. I'm going home. Back to the Bay, to an empty house, a parent and a step-douche that hella suck, neighbours who think I'm a fucking murderer... I look over at Taylor, Max, Matt, even Victoria. "So. What are you guys gonna do when you get outta here?"

Matt chuckles, adjusting his stance to put his injured leg out. "Well, first I'll go to a hospital, probably." Everyone eyerolls indulgently. Ugh. "Then, I'm coming back here." 

Our heads snap up. Here? "What? Why?"

He shrugs. "I've got to find Mike. He's still out here." He turns to the two blondes and, in a hella blatant attempt to change the subject, asks them "What about you two?" as unsubtly as a brick to the face. It's a fair point, but jeez. 

Taylor and Victoria share a grin and indulge the guy. Taylor starts listing off things on her fingers. "Bath, Bed, Mani-pedi..." Victoria rubs some dirt off her hand with a shudder. "Anything to get the grime of this fucking forest off of us." 

"Can I come?"

Everyone in the room turns and gives me the weirdest array of confused expressions I have ever seen. I almost Keanu-Reeves-Woah at the sheer intensity of them. "You want to-?"

I frown, realising why the faces and hella hastily correct that fucking misconception before it sticks. Shit, I have a rep to keep up. Can't go for mani-pedis. "N-not with them." I wave off the two blondes, focusing on Matt. "With you." 

He tilts his head curiously. "I mean, sure, if that's what you want. Are you sure you want to get involved... in this?"

I scoff. "Dude. I killed more Wendigoes in this forest than you did on your fucking mountain and I set the biggest, baddest one on fire and dropped him into a canyon. I can do this."

Matt sits down on the edge of the desk with a sigh and a mildly pained grunt, eyeing me from his perch. "I didn't ask if you thought you could. Just if you were sure you wanted... this. It's hard, Chloe. Right now, you'll get better. One day, maybe not today, or tomorrow, you'll forget and you'll move on. If you join up, I promise you'll never sleep well again. So, are you sure?"

I hesitate, just for a second, asking myself the same damn question.

Am I sure?

Do I want to do this?

I think about Rach, about how her hair fluttered in the wind, about how it used to feel to kiss her, about how she was gone now.

I think about Mom, about how she used to make us pancakes and waffles, about how she used to smile when Dad was alive, about how she was with Step-Douche now.

I think about Sam, about how she used to smile, about how she was gone now. 

Yeah. 

Yeah, I kinda do.

I nod. "I'm hella in. I wanna help."

I'm sorry, Rach. 

He nods, face serious. "Okay." He hobbles forward a little and holds out the hand of his uninjured arm. "Welcome to the Team, Chloe."

I shake. 

There's a beat of silence when we step back from each other, everyone in the room just taking in the seriousness of what just happened. It did kinda feel like I was selling my soul to a friendly, upbeat Devil, but I think for once I might be doing something right. We all drift apart, taking little corners of the lookout to ourselves. Max sits down next to Turt, stroking him almost on auto-pilot as she stares off into space. Matt and Victoria take the corner next to Max's desk, where I'd stood to look out the window. Taylor stands in the open doorway, staring out into the distance. 

I walk over to her, leaning on the side of the door next to her. "Hey." 

"Hmm?" 

"You okay?"

A few seconds pass before she looks up at me. "What would you think if I said I don't know?"

I shrug one shoulder. "That you were being honest, dude."

She gives an amused little snort, but it's hollow and just sounds so tired. "I'm glad we're out, and we're still alive, but..." She lets the sentence trail off, and from her expression I can tell that she has no idea what comes next. 

I nod. "I get it." 

She eyes me for a sceptical moment, then smiles as we share a look of mutual understanding. This kinda shit we went through was fucked up, but it's over now. We lost people, but we're grateful to be alive. And guilty about the whole fucking thing. 

We both go quiet, and there's so much more I want to say, but I don't know how. Maybe we'd get a coffee someday, but for now we just needed time. Heals all wounds, right? 

Fuck I hope so. 

There wasn't much chatter, for the rest of the half hour. Matt might think we'd get over this someday, but today was still full of memories we couldn't stop. 

Mine was that last look at Sam as Taylor and I fell. The look of fear and determination and resignation across her face as she sacrificed herself for us. 

But soon enough, like all good things, this nightmare came to an end. The familiar loud thukka-thukka-thukka of a helicopter flew overhead, drawing us all out of our heads and back to reality. 

It lands just outside, gently easing down into a clear spot less than thirty meters from the lookout. They don't turn the engine off, letting the blades keep spinning. One of the people inside leans out, waving up at us. 

With a sigh, Max stands up from her perch on the edge of the bed and says simply "We'd better go." 

Max takes the lead, picking up a backpack on her way out, taking us out of the lookout, down the stairs, and across to the helicopter. I help Max up, then Taylor, and we all help Matt and Victoria up. Then, I hop in, flopping down into one of the hella uncomfortable seats. The man who waved hands each of us a set of headphones, explaining that they're to help with the noise. 

We put them on just as the helicopter lifts smoothly into the air, and all the sounds going on around us just go dull.

The headphone man confers with the pilot for a second, the pilot notifying him that the 'other teams have set down'. The headphone man nods, tells him to head for the trailhead. With a nod, the pilot suddenly banks the entire helicopter, and we start heading back over familiar ground. 

The five of us sit quietly, staring blankly at the destruction happening outside the window.

The forest glides by under us, Wapiti Meadow, Jonesy Lake, Ned's caves, Thunder-Fucking-Canyon, my lookout, all going by as the fire devours the forest around them.

Before, when we were running through all that shit, the crackling of the fire was hella loud. Now, there's nothing, just the dull sound of the helicopter blades to back an entire forest burning.

We hit the Thorofare Trail before we know it, and the pilot starts following the still familiar route I took to get here, back when this shit all started. 

As the place I'd come to call home for the last few months disappears behind us, I let out a long sigh. We were okay. We'd made it out. I slump back into the seat and, finally, I drop the shotgun. 

It lands on the floor with a clunk that draws Taylor and Victoria's attention for a second, but they quickly go back to looking out the window. 

I feel a sudden chill across my shoulders and reach up to pull my jack... Where's my jacket? 

Oh shit.

"Turt!"


End file.
